The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

16 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL “Freedom in the World” Report Released T he 2023 edition of the “Freedom in the World” report was released in March. Compiled by Freedom House, the report found that “global free- dom” had declined for the 17th consecu- tive year, but the authors also noted that we could be reaching a “turning point” because some authoritarian countries loosened pandemic-era restrictions on free speech, and countries like Colombia, Kenya, and Malaysia experienced peace- ful transfers of power. The report also noted that in places like Moscow and Beijing, the “effects of corruption and a focus on political control at the expense of competence exposed the limits of the authoritarian models.” Each country is assigned points on a series of 25 indicators, for a total aggregate score of 100. Finland, Norway, and Sweden all received perfect scores. Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, China, and the Central African Republic were among the countries that received scores lower than 10. Havana Syndrome Cause Remains a Mystery A n intelligence report issued by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines on March 1, 2023, claims it is not likely that Havana syn- drome was caused by a foreign adversary. A statement issued by Haines noted that most IC (intelligence community) agencies “have now concluded that it is ‘very unlikely’ a foreign adversary is responsible for the reported AHIs [anomalous health incidents].” For the report, seven intelligence agencies reviewed approximately 1,000 cases of AHIs. Five of the agencies agreed that for- eign involvement was “very unlikely”; a sixth (unnamed) agency determined it was merely “unlikely”; the seventh agency, also unnamed, abstained (but did not dissent). AFSA released a statement the same day saying that the association continues to advocate for members who have been injured by the myste- rious illness and that the report does not change that. News outlets continue to cover the Havana syndrome story. On March 23, The Washington Post quoted CIA Director Ambassador Bill Burns, who said: “I want to be absolutely clear: These findings do not call into question the experi- ences and real health issues that U.S. government personnel and their family members—including CIA’s own officers—have reported while serving our country.” Retired FSO James Schumaker, who wrote one of the FSJ ’s most-read articles of 2022, “Before Havana Syndrome, There Was Moscow Signal” (January-February 2022), has been interviewed by various news publications including Politico , which ran a big story on Moscow Signal, the decades-long Soviet program that beamed microwaves at the U.S. embassy in Moscow and is suspected by some to be a precursor to the Havana syndrome. Politico also reported on March 9 that the Pentagon awarded a $750,000 grant to study radio frequency waves on ferrets to determine whether this exposure causes similar symptoms to those experienced by U.S. government personnel in Havana, Moscow, and elsewhere. Guardian journalist Nicky Woolf released a new podcast, The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome , on March 13. One of Woolf’s guests, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, admitted that he did not brief then- President Donald Trump on the Havana syndrome: “We didn’t feel we would get support from President Trump if we said, ‘We think the Russians are coming after American personnel.’” Woolf also interviews Schumaker, retired CIA officer (and syndrome victim) Marc Polymeropoulos, National Security Archive senior analyst Peter Kornbluh, and other experts. On March 29, Salon reported that it had obtained a declassified report pre- pared for the DNI that “appears to show conclusively” that Havana syndrome is not naturally occurring and suggests that “an unknown device or weapon using ‘pulsed electromagnetic energy’ remains a plausible explanation.” The James Madison Project, a non- profit dedicated to reducing government secrecy, sued to obtain the report. The project’s attorney, Mark Zaid, says the report shows “the U.S. government is covering up evidence” about AHIs. An anonymous source told Salon reporter Brian Karem that the department was caught “in the crossfire of this mess” and “likely knew very little” about any hypo- thetical operation against its personnel.