The Foreign Service Journal, May 2021

22 MAY 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL sional development. By contrast, with the exception of foreign language instruction, formal State Department education and training lack sufficient participation by our diplomats to enable them to reach their full potential for operating in today’s complicated security environment. State Department personnel are exceptionally capable and committed individuals, many of whommake great sacrifices to serve our nation. While the Foreign Service Institute is committed to providing the best education possible within its existing oper- ating budget, our foreign policy professionals deserve and need a commitment to more extensive professional development. Confronting the Budget Problem To approach an acceptable level of professional development, leadership must prioritize education and training as it deals with the lack of budgetary support it receives from Congress. For years the State Department has blamed budget constraints, together with higher priorities, for not investing more in educa- tion and training and for ignoring internal and external reform proposals. While funding levels for the department are certainly an issue, especially now for the new administration, without a top-level commitment to education, that funding will con- tinue to be underprioritized and underresourced by Congress. Recent studies have estimated that the State Department needs a 2,000-person increase in staffing to avoid having to take person- nel out of operational work for enhanced professional education. This requires a related leadership commitment, as well. The harsh reality is that it will be difficult to increase the State Department budget substantially over the next several years as our nation faces huge budget deficits and critical domestic needs coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant eco- nomic downturn. This will require weighing the education and training investment in human capital, the department’s most important asset, against other priorities. Is every item of State’s planned construction more urgent at this time than educating its personnel? Can the State travel budget be a source of savings for education using the COVID-19 experience to show the efficacy of virtual meetings? Similarly, FSI has done a remarkable job of transitioning nearly all its training to the virtual world. Can the efficiencies created through virtual instruction be leveraged to allow the department to do more with existing resources? Without also challenging business-as-usual budgets, the department will continue to short the professional develop- ment of its people. On a broader government level, however, the State Department budget does not occur in a vacuum. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis once famously said: “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammu- nition.” What if that statement could be turned on its head? We are optimistic that the Biden administration, working closely with Congress, will rise to the challenge and exhibit T he U.S. Diplomatic Studies Foundation, formally established in 2017, provides financial and intellectual support to the Foreign Service Institute for the development and implementation of innovative education and training. The foundation’s goal is to work with the State Department to develop officers of excellence to support the diplomatic objectives of the country through lifelong learning and continuous innovation in both instructional technique and focus of instruction. The foundation is supported entirely by private contributions from individuals and major foundations. It operates under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with FSI in February 2019 and recently extended to February 2022. The MOU provides the framework for FSI to adopt improvements to existing courses and explore new educational opportunities, with the shared goal of the foundation and FSI to transition those experiments to public funding if and as they prove successful. DSF has engaged recently retired ambassadors to enhance area studies training with practitioners, and is also bringing together senior State Department and congressional professionals in a seminar to inform and improve contacts with each other. The foundation is exploring training to help diplomats work better with American businesses to promote U.S. commercial interests overseas. DSF is also promoting a new concept of tabletop simulations called “Peace Games” to augment classroom teaching, drawing on the military’s widely developed war-gaming experience. Diplomatic Studies Foundation: WhoWe Are, What We Do