The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

22 JULY-AUGUST 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL D espite many excellent people and successes, American diplomacy is facing serious problems. American Diplomacy at Risk , the latest report from the American Academy of Diplomacy, goes beyond cataloging problems to offer numerous specific, actionable recommendations. The problems it addresses were initially surfaced in a Washington Post opinion piece published on April 11, 2013, which I joined former AFSA President Susan Johnson and retired Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering in writ- ing. The op-ed drew strong support and some strong criticism, particularly charges that it was elitist and anti-Civil Service. Those criticisms were wrong then and they are wrong now, as a close reading of our report will show. (The full text is available at www.academyofdiplomacy.org .) Ronald E. Neumann, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer who served as ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain and Afghanistan, is president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. FOCUS ON DIPLOMACY: THE PROFESSION AMERICAN DIPLOMACY AT RISK A Report from the American Academy of Diplomacy The Foreign Service is being deliberately undermined, a new AAD report warns. The Academy offers 23 recommendations to reverse the threat to American diplomacy. BY RONALD E . NEUMANN