THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2025 27 Russia, cover war crimes and atrocities, and provide lifesaving information to communities on the line of contact. That support was terminated as part of the review process on foreign assistance. Finally, USAID provided support to newsrooms in the Western Balkans to improve their financial, digital, and legal security, including to the storied outlet in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Oslobodjenje, which published every day during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996. On a visit in 2022 by then–USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who had covered the war as a journalist in the 1990s, staff at Oslobodjenje told her that it was harder to be a journalist now than during the war, not only because of the economic, political, and technological headwinds they face, but because of vexatious lawsuits meant to drive them out of business. Power’s visit came as USAID announced its creation of a global mutual defense fund, Reporters Shield, to help reporters facing the rising threat of strategic litigation against public participation lawsuits, or SLAPP suits. USAID’s support of independent media in Eastern Europe and around the world has provided a powerful, cost-effective way for the United States to support those on the front lines of freedom. Such efforts have strengthened democracies and allies of the U.S., ensured a more level playing field and stronger economies for American businesses to invest in, and made the world safer and more secure. e Helping Americans Abroad In 1995 I was a first-tour consular officer at the U.S. consulate general in Krakow, when we received a call from Jagiellonian University about an elderly U.S. gentleman who was residing in their dormitories. Retired and single, he had come to study Polish in a language course for foreigners. The course had ended, the dorms were closing for the summer, but no matter what they told him, “the gentleman will not leave and just sits all day watching TV.” As the American Citizen Services (ACS) officer, I went to see him. He was a gentle, old man, quiet and reserved, who could answer simple questions, but that was all. He did not understand that it was time for him to leave and return home. When we asked for his passport, he took us to his room and pointed at his dresser. In one drawer we found countless pieces of paper covered with scribblings and notes that made no real sense, but no passport or plane ticket. We had virtually no information about the man save his name. He did not know his address, names of relatives, telephone number, and so on. In the drawer, however, we found a large key, and the Polish staffer said it looked like a bank lockbox key. The gentleman had no idea what the key was for or where he got it. After visiting numerous banks, one of them said it was theirs, but the lockbox could only be accessed by the key owner, or a court order to open it. Fortunately, the bank accepted the gentleman’s student ID card, and there we found his passport, traveler’s checks, a plane ticket, and an envelope with a return address. After tracking the address, we were able to contact his son. The gentleman had had a series of small strokes while in Poland, befuddling him. Once contacted, the family needed our help to get him back to the U.S. Unable to travel alone, he needed an escort to fly, which none of the family could do. A consulate spouse agreed to accompany him to London and put him on a plane to New York. Afterward, I received a personal letter from his son, thanking us profusely for our help retrieving their father. Our consulate had only eight FSOs at that time, handling 300 nonimmigrant visa (NIV) requests daily while covering many other responsibilities. This was a rare case but not unusual, and certainly not an exercise that could have been handled remotely or by AI. It’s just one example of how U.S. diplomats are always willing, able, and needed to help U.S. citizens in distress overseas. Don Sheehan State Department FSO, retired Arlington, Virginia In just its first 10 years, Feed the Future lifted 23.4 million people out of poverty, prevented 3.4 million children from stunting, and reduced hunger in 5.2 million families.
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