THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2024 21 It is fitting that on the 100th anniversary of the creation of the modern U.S. Foreign Service—brought into existence by the 1924 Rogers Act—an entire FSJ issue is dedicated to the future of diplomacy, specifically how the rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), data collection and analysis, and scientific thinking can improve the conduct of international relations. Perhaps no topic is more enduring in the pages of this magazine’s century of publication than how to improve the State Department and its diplomacy. It is the gift (and burden) of all public servants to be afflicted by visions of a better world, to be dissatisfied with the status quo but also motivated toward improvement. Yet many of us suspect that we face an inflection point today. Few other moments in modern American history have presented such a rising tide of international challenges at a time when the role of the State Department seems less clear. The next hundred years of American diplomacy must look different from the last. But how? This edition of the Journal offers no easy answers. Written by innovative practitioners pushing the boundaries of their field, the articles share an underlying question: With an exponential increase in the complexity of the international environment and the simultaneous advance of new technologies, how can we improve the quality of our foreign policy? Dan Spokojny is a member of the Editorial Board of The Foreign Service Journal. He is also the founder and CEO of fp21, a think tank dedicated to studying foreign policy reform. He served in government for more than a decade, as a U.S. Foreign Service officer and a legislative staffer in Congress, and on the AFSA Governing Board. He is finishing his Ph.D. in political science with the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on the role of expertise in foreign policy. New Tools For better foreign policy FOCUS ON AI FOR DIPLOMACY Can the State Department integrate promising new technology without undermining the essential human aspects of diplomacy? BY DAN SPOKOJNY ILLUSTRATION BY BITTESCHOEN.TV
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