WHEN USAID DISAPPEARS A MESSAGE FROM THE MILITARY MED GOES DIGITAL PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION JULY-AUGUST 2025 GLOBAL HEALTH DIPLOMACY
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 5 26 Putting America First by Stopping Outbreaks at Their Source By Nidhi Bouri 32 Why Continued U.S. Leadership on HIV Is Essential By Angeli Achrekar July-August 2025 Volume 102, No. 5 FOCUS ON GLOBAL HEALTH DIPLOMACY 35 From Atlanta to Côte d’Ivoire: How the CDC Protects Americans Overseas A Q&A with Audrey Knutson Luxenberg 38 How to Prevent a Bacterial Pandemic in Central America By Jorge A. Huete-Pérez 42 “Wherever the Wind Takes Us”— Poor Air Quality and Long-Term Foreign Service By Michelle Zjhra with Claire Kidwell and Linda Geiser
6 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE 46 MED Provider Portal: Modernizing the Foreign Service Health Care Experience By Alice Abrams FEATURE: SERVICE DISRUPTED 48 When USAID Disappears 49 USAID Is Vanishing By Jim Bever 52 When Engineers Stop Working By a USAID FSO 52 Build Anyway By a USAID FSO PERSPECTIVES 7 President’s Views The Privilege of Serving You By Tom Yazdgerdi 9 Letter from the Editor Global Health Diplomacy Today By Shawn Dorman 14 Message from the Military Diplomats Serve at the Tip of the Spear By James G. Foggo 22 Speaking Out Reimagining the Foreign Service EER By Jason Rubin 88 Reflections Effective Public Diplomacy During NATO Enlargement By Gordon Duguid 90 Local Lens Mount Nebo, Jordan By Joseph A. D’Agostino III DEPARTMENTS 10 Letters 16 Talking Points 77 In Memory 81 Books MARKETPLACE 83 Real Estate 86 Classifieds 87 Index to Advertisers 53 D ouble Your Impact 53 H undreds Rally in D.C. to Stand Up for Service 54 State VP Voice— A Foreign Service for the People, by the People 55 F CS VP Voice— What I’ve Learned 56 Retiree VP Voice— Parting Advice 56 AFSA Defends the Foreign Service in Court 58 A FSA Marks 60th Foreign Service Day 60 A FSA Hosts 51st Annual Memorial Plaque Ceremony 61 AFSA Governing Board Meeting, March 19, 2025 61 AFSA Welcomes April Orientation Class 62 2023-2025 AFSA Governing Board Term Report 76 2 024 Annual Report: Legal Defense Fund 76 DACOR Memorial Day Service AFSA NEWS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF AFSA ON THE COVER: Art by Joey Guidone/ The i Spot. 49 62
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 7 The Privilege of Serving You BY TOM YAZDGERDI Tom Yazdgerdi is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. PRESIDENT’S VIEWS As my time as AFSA president draws to a close, I want to use my final column to thank you all for being members and supporting AFSA in this trying time of upheaval. It has been humbling to witness the outpouring of support that has helped AFSA confront this existential challenge to the Foreign Service. When my good friend, former AFSA President Eric Rubin, asked me in January 2019 to run on his ticket as State vice president, I gladly accepted, though I wasn’t sure what I could really accomplish. A term as president and two terms as State VP have given me a deep appreciation of AFSA’s ability to make life better for our members and, by so doing, to strengthen the Foreign Service as an institution. Some have argued that there is an inherent contradiction with AFSA being both a labor union and professional association. I have never seen it that way: If you want a strong Foreign Service, one that attracts and retains top talent, then you need to support and defend its members, full stop. One is intrinsically linked with the other. The Fight Will Continue AFSA will continue to fight the executive orders that dismantled USAID and USAGM, two of our member agencies, and eliminated our collective bargaining rights at State and USAID. We are still arguing our case in the courts, but our fight has already borne fruit. In mid-May, the bargaining rights we have enjoyed for more than 50 years were reinstated by a federal judge. We then moved quickly to demand back our rights to negotiate major personnel changes, including the State reorganization underway and the establishment of new precepts that form the basis for Foreign Service promotions. These rights enable AFSA to hold this—and any—administration to account. Without these rights, decisions can be made behind closed doors, without AFSA’s knowledge, imperiling the nonpartisan, professional career Foreign Service. In the worst-case scenario, if our rights as a union are lost, we will continue the fight as a professional association in the media, in Congress, and in the court of public opinion. And I ask you to join us in this important endeavor. The future of our country and our Service depends on us. Profound Thanks I have been deeply impressed with the professionalism and results-oriented approach of our great AFSA staff in the offices of general counsel, congressional advocacy, professional policy issues, membership/outreach, communications, and the FSJ. I know their wise counsel and understanding of the many issues affecting our members has given me the wherewithal to make informed decisions, and they will do the same for the incoming board. Thank you to our Governing Board members, most of whom are volunteers. Discussion at our monthly meetings could sometimes be spirited, but always with the intention of arriving at the best decisions for our members—and for that I am grateful. I also want to thank our indefatigable post reps overseas and all those who volunteered their time for AFSA, whether on the FSJ Editorial Board or elsewhere. Your work is much appreciated. Looking Ahead By the time this issue goes to print, we will be in the final stages of preparing incoming President John Dinkelman and the new Governing Board members for their first meeting on July 16. I congratulate John and all of those who ran in an election that saw the highest voter turnout of any in AFSA’s recent history. This energized electorate can only be beneficial for AFSA. I know that AFSA will be in good hands going forward, and I ask you to lend the new team your support. As for me, I am looking forward to becoming an outspoken member of our great AFSA retiree/alumni cohort. As I look back on nearly 34 years in the Foreign Service (plus three in other USG agencies), I am grateful for a career that has given me so much that I feel a deep sense of obligation to give back. Thank you for giving me the privilege of a lifetime in serving you. And may AFSA thrive for another hundred years. n
8 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL www.sfiprogram.org SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE SFI-01268 Certified Sourcing Editor in Chief, Director of Publications Shawn Dorman: dorman@afsa.org Deputy Editor Donna Gorman: gorman@afsa.org Senior Editor Susan Brady Maitra: maitra@afsa.org Managing Editor Kathryn Owens: owens@afsa.org Associate Editor Mark Parkhomenko: parkhomenko@afsa.org Publications Coordinator and Content Strategist Hannah Harari: harari@afsa.org Business Development Manager— Advertising and Circulation Molly Long: long@afsa.org Art Director Caryn Suko Smith Editorial Board Vivian Walker, Chair Lynette Behnke, Gov. Bd. Liaison Suzanne August David Bargueño Ben East Hon. Jennifer Z. Galt Mathew Hagengruber Steven Hendrix Peter Reams Dan Spokojny THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS The Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is published monthly, with combined January-February and July-August issues, by the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), a private, nonprofit organization. Material appearing herein represents the opinions of the writers and does not necessarily represent the views of the Journal, the Editorial Board, or AFSA. Writer queries and submissions are invited, preferably by email. The Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. AFSA reserves the right to reject advertising that is not in keeping with its standards and objectives. The appearance of advertisements herein does not imply endorsement of goods or services offered. 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Email: journal@afsa.org Phone: (202) 338-4045 Fax: (202) 338-8244 Web: www.afsa.org/fsj Address Changes: member@afsa.org © American Foreign Service Association, 2025 PRINTED IN THE USA Postmaster: Send address changes to AFSA, Attn: Address Change 2101 E Street NW Washington DC 20037-2990 AFSA Headquarters: (202) 338-4045; Fax (202) 338-6820 State Department AFSA Office: (202) 647-8160; Fax (202) 647-0265 USAID AFSA Office: (202) 712-1941; Fax (202) 216-3710 FCS AFSA Office: (202) 482-9088; Fax (202) 482-9087 GOVERNING BOARD President Tom Yazdgerdi: yazdgerdi@afsa.org Secretary Sue Saarnio: saarnio@afsa.org Treasurer Hon. John O’Keefe: okeefe@afsa.org State Vice President Hui Jun Tina Wong: wong@afsa.org USAID Vice President Randy Chester: chester@afsa.org FCS Vice President Joshua Burke: burke@afsa.org FAS Vice President VACANT Retiree Vice President John K. Naland: naland@afsa.org Full-Time State Representative Gregory Floyd: floyd@afsa.org State Representatives Lynette Behnke: behnke@afsa.org Kimberly McClure: mcclure@afsa.org Heather Pishko: pishko@afsa.org C. Logan Wheeler: wheeler@afsa.org Whitney Wiedeman: wiedeman@afsa.org USAID Representative Christopher Saenger: saenger@afsa.org FCS Alternate Representative Jay Carreiro: jay.carreiro@afsa.org FAS Alternate Representative VACANT USAGM Representative Gunter Schwabe: schwabe@afsa.org APHIS Representative Joe Ragole: ragole@afsa.org Retiree Representatives Mary Daly: daly@afsa.org Edward Stafford: stafford@afsa.org STAFF Executive Director Ásgeir Sigfússon: sigfusson@afsa.org Executive Assistant to the President Jahari Fraser: fraser@afsa.org Office Coordinator Therese Thomas: therese@afsa.org PROFESSIONAL POLICY ISSUES AND ADVOCACY Director of Professional Policy Issues Lisa Heller: heller@afsa.org Director of Advocacy Kim Sullivan: sullivan@afsa.org Advocacy and Policy Manager Sean O’Gorman: ogorman@afsa.org FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION Director, HR and Operations Cory Nishi: cnishi@afsa.org Controller Kalpna Srimal: srimal@afsa.org Member Accounts Specialist Ana Lopez: lopez@afsa.org IT and Infrastructure Coordinator Aleksandar “Pav” Pavlovich: pavlovich@afsa.org COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH Director of Communications Nikki Gamer: gamer@afsa.org Deputy Director of Communications and Outreach Nadja Ruzica: ruzica@afsa.org Online Communications Manager Jeff Lau: lau@afsa.org Communications and Marketing Manager Erin Oliver: oliver@afsa.org MEMBERSHIP Director, Programs and Member Engagement Christine Miele: miele@afsa.org Membership Operations Coordinator Mouna Koubaa: koubaa@afsa.org Coordinator of Member Recruitment and Benefits Perri Green: green@afsa.org Counselor for Retirees Dolores Brown: brown@afsa.org Manager, Membership and Events VACANT Program Coordinator Indigo Stegner: stegner@afsa.org OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL General Counsel Sharon Papp: papp@afsa.org Deputy General Counsel Raeka Safai: safai@afsa.org Senior Staff Attorneys Zlatana Badrich: badrich@afsa.org Neera Parikh: parikh@afsa.org Labor Management Counselor Colleen Fallon-Lenaghan: colleen@afsa.org Senior Labor Management Adviser James Yorke: yorke@afsa.org Labor Management Coordinator Patrick Bradley: bradley@afsa.org Senior Grievance Counselor Heather Townsend: townsend@afsa.org Grievance Counselor Ed White: white@afsa.org Attorney Adviser Erin Kate Brady: brady@afsa.org FOREIGN SERVICE CONTACTS www.afsa.org
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 9 Shawn Dorman is the editor of The Foreign Service Journal. Global Health Diplomacy Today BY SHAWN DORMAN LETTER FROM THE EDITOR When we set out late last year to put together a focus on global health diplomacy, we reached out to officials running USAID and State Department international health programming and policy. We found enthusiastic authors. We wanted to hear from USAID’s global health division and to learn about priorities for State’s Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, established in August 2023. But that was not to be. Within a month of taking office, the Trump administration was dismantling USAID, firing thousands of federal employees, freezing and terminating myriad global health programs, and making plans for a major reorganization and downsizing of the State Department (in addition to attempts to eliminate AFSA’s role as a union at State and USAID). Channels began collapsing, as people were put on administrative leave and federal email accounts were turned off. It became difficult to find out what was happening and to get anyone to put anything in writing. Would USAID and State’s global health programs and priorities survive? What would happen to life-saving programs and to staff? Too much was in flux. We were advised to drop the focus topic. But discussion of a vital foreign policy matter hanging in the balance was still appropriate, maybe even more so. We pushed the topic from May to July-August and sought out a different set of writers to explore the strategic imperatives of U.S. leadership in global health. As the most recent deputy assistant administrator for global health at USAID, Nidhi Bouri oversaw the agency’s work in global health security and health emergencies. In “Putting America First by Stopping Outbreaks at Their Source,” she uses the Ebola case study to show that preventing diseases from entering our borders costs far less than responding to them after they’ve arrived. In “Why Continued U.S. Leadership on HIV Is Essential,” Angeli Achrekar explains that largely because of two decades of U.S. leadership, the end of AIDS as a public health threat is within sight, but continued vigorous U.S. support is essential to reach that goal. Achrekar served for more than 20 years with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In “How the CDC Protects Americans Overseas,” Audrey Knutson Luxenberg from the CDC Côte d’Ivoire team answers our questions about the people and the work of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overseas. Antimicrobial resistance is not simply an emerging global medical problem; it is a diplomatic challenge. Jorge A. Huete-Pérez, biotechnology and science policy professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, explains in “How to Prevent a Bacterial Pandemic in Central America.” Finally, in “Wherever the Wind Takes Us—Poor Air Quality and LongTerm Foreign Service,” recently retired FSO Michelle Zjhra sets out to discover how poor air quality at some posts might affect the health of members of the Foreign Service community. Also in medical news, Alice Abrams, an experienced State medical provider, tells us about the new online “MED Provider Portal.” Elsewhere in this edition is a special “Message from the Military” from Admiral James G. Foggo. In “Diplomats Serve at the Tip of the Spear,” he explains how he learned that “without a strong Foreign Service, America’s security would be at risk.” In the Speaking Out, FSO Jason Rubin leads us to “Reimagining the Foreign Service EER,” while in Reflections FSO Gordon Duguid looks at “Effective Public Diplomacy During NATO Enlargement.” In the third installment of our Service Disrupted series, we hear from USAID Senior FSO (ret.) Jim Bever and two USAID FSOs on what happens “When USAID Disappears.” Tom Yazdgerdi’s farewell President’s Views column assures members that AFSA will continue its fight to defend the Foreign Service and thanks them for the privilege of serving. Last, though the FSJ’s July-August edition is traditionally a double issue, we will continue to produce double issues through the end of the year, and into 2026, as a cost-saving measure during this difficult time. Please keep writing to us at journal@afsa.org. n
10 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTERS The Fruits of Our Labor I was most interested to read about Vietnam in the April-May 2025 FSJ, in particular the reference in the article, “Through the Visa Window,” about Vietnamese migrants to the U.S. The article refers to the Orderly Departure Program, which was set up in Bangkok 45 years ago, principally to try to encourage desperate South Vietnamese with some ties to the U.S. not to take to the boats to try to get to Indonesia, Malaysia, or the Philippines because of rampant piracy and oceanic deaths. As a second-tour consular officer, I was sent to Bangkok to help set up the program, working with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) representative who would be preprocessing applicants in Vietnam, based on lists prepared by the Vietnamese government (primarily Chinese citizens they wanted to get rid of) and lists the U.S. government prepared, containing names of people with relatives in the U.S. and former U.S. government employees. Initially there were no names that appeared on both lists, but over time there was some crossover. It is rewarding to see that this program went on for 20 years, and it is deeply pleasing to read decades later about the fruits of our labor and the faithfulness of U.S. citizen husbands in getting their spouses (often with multiple non-U.S.- related children) brought safely to the United States. I hope all those reunifications were happy and successful ones. Sue H. Patterson FSO, retired Antigua, Guatemala Moved by Vietnam Coverage As a former FSO in Vietnam from 1966 to 1970, I was emotionally moved and cherished your coverage of Vietnam from My neighborhood in McLean is turning as Chinese as the region in which Vietnam is situated. In blessed retirement, I watch with not a little trepidation as many of these houses are purchased (in cash) by the Chinese who made their fortunes off the liberal trading regime that I and many others enabled in the lead-up to China’s accession to the WTO. (We all got promoted for “single-handedly” bringing this about.) Let me be clear: I am a “hawk” when it comes to Xi Jinping’s regime. Former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who died of a heart attack in Shanghai not too long ago—and whom all my Chinese neighbors quietly believe was allowed to die on orders from Chairman Xi—was Party Secretary in Liaoning Province when I was consul general in Shenyang from 2007 to 2010. Li was the kind of leader we could work with. I’m less sanguine about Xi. I am the product of training in that renegade province, Taiwan, where I was a college junior studying abroad in 1973 and a consular officer at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) from 1987 to 1989. At the time, AIT was a mildewing and molding leftover from our heyday during the Chiang Kai-shek period. When I was assigned to Shenyang, everyone in the Foreign Service thought I was somehow being punished. I lasted three and one-half happy years during perhaps the apogee in U.S.-China relations. We did not have perfect access in that conservative part of China, but it wasn’t all that bad. And many of us went on to stellar careers in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Vietnam is a perfect example of what can be accomplished by steady and the 1968 Tet invasion until today in the April-May 2025 FSJ. I lived across from the embassy on Mac Din Chi at the time of the attack. I lived and worked in virtually every province of South Vietnam, developing the computerized hamlet evaluation report for 12,000 hamlets for MACV [Military Assistance Command, Vietnam]. I worked in pacification under Bob Komer and ended my career as USAID industry chief, responsible for the War Reconstruction Program and the USAID Commercial Import Program. I left South Vietnam fluent in Vietnamese in December 1970 and returned to Vietnam in 2005 as co-founder of Vietnam Holding, creating an IPO in 2006 on the U.K. stock exchange. It still operates today. This should give you some background on why I loved the entire issue’s complimentary treatment of Vietnam and USAID from 1967 until today. John H. Hoey FSO, retired Sarasota, Florida Intentional Diplomacy in Vietnam As I sit on my front porch in McLean, Virginia, smoking a cigar from leaf grown and rolled in the Dominican Republic, and watching yet another McMansion replace the 1959 split-level house that preceded it, I read with special interest and pride the April-May 2025 issue of The Foreign Service Journal. I had the honor of working for or alongside most of the authors and the folks they mention. They were the best advertisement of the Foreign Service and the power of diplomacy vice military posturing one could imagine. Not that our military posture isn’t important—it’s just that diplomacy brings better returns.
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 11 intentional diplomacy. My fear is that the current administration does not understand this. Stephen Wickman FSO, retired McLean, Virginia Moral Leadership I just read the FSJ article “Lives Upended: The Impact of USAID’s Dismantling on Those Who Serve” in your AprilMay 2025 issue. Both the introductory note from the editors and the testimonials from affected individuals were powerful and offer a necessary and courageous resistance to the Trump administration’s cruel and thoughtless cuts. Your refusal to be complicit in the travesties that are occurring is moral leadership at its best. Thank you for what you do. Mary Ellen Weir Belmont, North Carolina Dereliction of Duty In my decades of involvement in U.S. foreign and security policy, both in and out of government, I have never been so disheartened in reading the FSJ than with the April-May 2025 issue. Ironically, my concern was set off by the extraordinary record of the Foreign Service and others in developing relations with Vietnam over the last 50 years. One quote from Amb. Ted Osius’ article (“Vietnam and the United States: The Way Ahead”) underscores the danger that U.S. foreign policy now faces: “By decimating the team of Foreign Service Asia experts—people who would have known about 11 centuries of enmity between Vietnam and China— [Sen. Joe] McCarthy left the State Department unprepared.” That history now risks being repeated—this time because of actions being mandated from within the building. By killing USAID and decimating the State Department itself, both at home and abroad, the current administration has already ensured that State will not have sufficient talent, experience, and proper organization needed for U.S. foreign policy to prosper in the years ahead, or even for State to be able to provide critical help sometimes needed by Americans abroad. Even if the Secretary of State immediately rescinded what has already been done, the time needed to get the State Department (and other parts of the U.S. foreign policy structure) back to needed levels would take months, if not years. Already, America’s reputation in the world has taken its worst hit at least since Iraq in 2003 and Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. This is worse than sad or tragic. It is dereliction of duty to the people of the United States, who expect the State Department and other agencies to reflect the interests and values of our country abroad. Robert E. Hunter U.S. Ambassador to NATO, 1993-1998 Washington, D.C. Too Many Losses Like many of you, after my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer, I chose to remain in service to our country by joining the USAID Foreign Service. Unfortunately, the current administration is erasing all that I stood for. My lifetime of work has been reduced to ashes, not due to natural causes but because of cruel acts of misguided people. I know I am not alone when I write that I am fed up. I worked for 10 years with the Peace Corps and 40 years with USAID and associated organizations. Now these U.S. organizations, which are themselves 63 years old, are being hastily and carelessly dismantled by a small group of people, leaving thousands of American employees and their families—whose jobs focused on providing life-saving humanitarian aid and relieving poverty in some of the most desperate parts of the world— without their livelihoods. The rapid evisceration of U.S. foreign aid programs also hurt thousands of locally employed (LE) staff (which we knew as Foreign Service Nationals or FSNs) working in their respective countries. FSNs were the institutional continuity and backbone of all U.S. overseas missions. They and their families were also deeply affected by the abrupt closure of their missions and their own sudden dismissals. Moreover, the termination of foreign aid has left millions of impoverished people in some of the world’s poorest countries without sufficient food and health care. Is the United States now abandoning these people? Questions must be asked: How do we now plan to stop the worldwide spread of disease, including pandemics? The loss of food markets for U.S. farmers also comes to mind. At least $2 billion of food will not be purchased by USAID in 2025. The loss of this market is catastrophic for U.S. farmers, many of whom have already planted crops with this market in mind. Our foreign assistance represents only 1 percent of the federal budget, so how much money do we save by its total and rapid demise? It is difficult for me to see how such actions by our government can be viewed in a positive light. There are many ways to reform our foreign aid programs, but reform must be done in a thoughtful manner rather
12 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL than precipitously. And I wonder about the implications of this destruction for the future recruitment of Foreign Service officers. I write this letter after spending several weeks agonizing over what an 80-year-old man like me could possibly do. I am writing this letter to express my pain and to call on others to join me in disagreeing with the actions of the current administration. Nationwide protests show me that many people share my views. I believe that if we fight together, we can right this situation. We may have to buckle down for years to repair the damage already done, but we must remain steadfast in our determination to correct this unprecedented dire situation. We must not lose hope that better days are ahead. I call on all of you to fight as long as it takes to right the democratic ship of State. Mark G. Wentling Senior FSO, retired Lubbock, Texas Did Khomeini Block a U.S. Visitor? The letter by Ambassador John Limbert that was published in the March 2025 edition of The Foreign Service Journal suggests that the Iranian leader Khomeini blocked Amb. Bill Miller and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark from visiting Tehran in November 1979. In fact, Ramsey, with whom I worked for about two decades, knew Khomeini well. The two had mutual respect for each other. According to Ramsey, it was the U.S. government that stopped him from visiting Tehran, not the Iranian government. Several times Ramsey recounted to me that when he was stopped from continuing to Tehran after having already landed in Europe, he reached out to the Iranian government to confirm that he was still welcomed and was told that he was. Nevertheless, the U.S. government refused to allow him to continue. Curtis Doebbler Research Professor of Law University of Makeni Makeni, Sierra Leone Khomeini: The Author Responds Professor Doebbler’s (and Ramsey Clark’s) account (above) is new to me. I suspect two possible explanations for the varying stories. Khomeini was a master of telling people what they wanted to hear and assuring them he supported their position. In Paris in 1978-1979, for example, he convinced Western journalists and Iranian nationalists that he supported free speech, freedom of the press, women’s rights, and had no interest in exercising political power. Once in Tehran, however, his actions were far different. In November 1979, he issued a categorical statement forbidding contact with the Clark-Miller mission, and in June 1980, when Clark did come to Iran for a conference, the two did not meet, and Khomeini allowed the state media to attack Clark in the most vitriolic terms. A second explanation is that someone in the Carter administration, for reasons of their own, was working to sabotage the mission. It seems far-fetched, but stranger things have happened. John Limbert FSO, retired Long Island City, New York n Share your thoughts about this month’s issue. Submit letters to the editor: journal@afsa.org
14 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL MESSAGE FROM THE MILITARY Diplomats Serve at the Tip of the Spear BY JAMES G. FOGGO Admiral James G. Foggo, U.S. Navy (ret.), currently serves as dean of the Center for Maritime Strategy in Washington, D.C. This essay is adapted from his introduction to Boots and Suits: Historical Cases and Contemporary Lessons in Military Diplomacy, edited by Ambassador (ret.) Phillip S. Kosnett (Marine Corps University Press, 2023). Throughout my more than 40 years in uniform with the U.S. Navy serving at sea as a submarine officer, with the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, and in leadership positions in the European Command, I witnessed extraordinary civil-military cooperation between our uniformed Joint Forces at the tip of the spear and our expeditionary diplomats who live and work in the communities of our allies, partners, and, in some cases, our adversaries. While in uniform, I served alongside civilians from the State Department and other organizations in some of the most dangerous, least-developed countries in the world, and I grew to respect the service and sacrifice of those who toiled alongside me. At a time when our rivals are exerting their global influence, we cannot risk a hollowing out of our civilian and military readiness, which could leave us exposed to danger and disaster in a world that grows more complex every day. Going ashore at the Pentagon in 2003-2005, I was introduced to a world where military officers worked side by side with our civilian counterparts in the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the rest of the Interagency. Serving in Western Europe and the Balkans, I found that the most effective combatant and component commanders of four-star rank were the ones who collaborated with their civilian counterparts. Some of the wisest commanders in the U.S. military taught me that U.S. ambassadors and their expert country teams were an essential ingredient in advancing the interests and national security of the United States of America. When diplomacy falters, America’s only remaining option is military force. Investing in diplomacy isn’t just smart policy, it’s how we keep American boots off foreign battlefields. e One of the most educational and exciting assignments of my career was to serve as executive assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, who served alongside Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Both Mullen and Gates understood that our diplomatic corps was an essential but underresourced part of government. Gates once quoted Mullen saying he would hand a part of his budget to the State Department “in a heartbeat” assuming it was spent in the right place. Adm. Mullen himself used to say that he would give up an aircraft carrier—valued at $14 billion—to buy more soft power through the institution of the Department of State. In 2008-2009, I traveled with Adm. Mullen in support of U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the first Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP), throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Iraq. There I worked with our diplomats serving in some of the world’s most dangerous places. Mullen often used the phrase “Expeditionary Government” when referring to Foreign Service officers and other Interagency civilians on the front lines. Like Holbrooke, Mullen saw provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) populated by both civilians and military personnel as a pathway to peace and stability in these war-torn regions. My experience as part of Holbrooke’s team taught me that without a strong Foreign Service, America’s security would be at risk. Career diplomats and development professionals are our first line of defense—preventing crises, protecting citizens abroad, and defusing global threats before they hit home. e I was already 20 years into my naval career when terrorists attacked New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. In that moment, everything changed. Sending
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 15 our military forces overseas after these attacks was necessary, but it was by no means sufficient. Along with those forces, on the front lines and in the trenches, we relied on civilian members of many other federal agencies to serve as the ultimate force multiplier. Like sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines, our civilians from the State Department and other agencies operated by our side at the tip of the spear, assuming similar risks as we fought our common enemy. This understanding was not lost on me when I assumed the duties of commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet from 2014 to 2016 and later as the four-star commander of Naval Forces Europe and Africa and commander of Allied Joint Forces Command in Naples, Italy, from 2017 to 2020. I valued the contribution of our U.S. ambassadors and their country teams in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East in the areas of my responsibility. I traveled frequently and always made it a priority to stop first at the U.S. embassy and pay a call on the ambassador or chargé d’affaires and meet with the U.S. country team. These visits were always enlightening. Whenever possible, I adjusted my schedule and my talking points to align with the subject matter experts in the diplomatic service of our nation. Likewise, when I could not travel to the region, I set up a series of regional ambassadors conferences at my headquarters in Naples, coordinated by my State Department political adviser. The Black Sea, Balkans, and Southern Europe/North Africa ambassadors conferences brought together our U.S. ambassadors, U.S. defense attachés, and chiefs of navies from Allied and partner countries, who convened to discuss regional issues and pooled resources to solve difficult challenges in support of collective national interests. As a naval officer, I have always supported the position of Theodore Roosevelt, who once opined: “A good Navy is not a provocation of war. It is the surest guarantee of peace.” I will always value the U.S. Navy’s contribution as an extended arm of diplomacy, and this principle guided me during my 11 years as a flag officer. My hat is off to those expeditionary diplomats who helped me during my many tours of duty in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Serving alongside them, I learned that diplomats do extraordinary things to save American lives. They, like our colleagues in uniform, are essential to our nation’s security and prosperity. They have protected us for decades. Now it is our turn to protect them. n Some of the wisest commanders in the U.S. military taught me that U.S. ambassadors and their expert country teams were an essential ingredient in advancing the interests and national security of the United States of America.
16 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL TALKING POINTS State Department Unveils Reorganization Plan On May 29, the State Department submitted its proposed reorganization plan to Congress through a congressional notification. The plan involves the largest realignment of departmental resources in recent years; approximately 300 bureaus and offices will be consolidated, streamlined, or eliminated, to “more closely align resources with core U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives” and to integrate programs formerly handled by USAID. The ambitious timeline aims to complete the reorganization by July 1, with affected employees receiving notice by that date. According to the congressional notification, some 1,873 employees, in addition to 1,575 who have already retired this year, will be subject to reductions in force (RIFs). Among the key changes: Each of the regional bureaus will be creating an Office of Assistance to coordinate aid programs in the absence of USAID. In the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA), the CARE office (handling Afghan refugees) and the Special Representative for Afghan Reconstruction will be folded into the Afghanistan Affairs Office. Departmental budgeting, personnel, and asset management tasks will be consolidated into the M Bureau, where a new Bureau of Personnel and Training (PERT) will include the former Global Talent Management as well as the Foreign Service Institute, with the latter returning to its former name: the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center. A new F under secretary will be responsible for foreign assistance coordination as well as some functions formerly a part of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the International Religious Freedom Office, and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Finally, the Bureau of Energy Resources will return to the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, where it will join the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy. Secretary Rubio on the Hill Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent about 10 hours on the Hill testifying before four Senate and House committees May 20 and 21 to discuss his proposed reorganization of the State Department and the president’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request. Republican members of Congress largely praised the Secretary, while exchanges with Democrats were generally more contentious, especially on foreign assistance. The first day, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and then before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Secretary Rubio described his view of U.S. engagement in the world. He noted that it “isn’t about saving money; it is about ensuring that we are delivering to our people what they deserve: a foreign policy that makes America stronger, safer, and more prosperous.” “We’re going to be doing foreign aid,” Rubio said. “We’re going to be doing all the things we’ve done before. … The difference is it’s going to be coordinated out of the umbrella of the State Department, and it’s going to be part of a cohesive, coherent foreign policy, and it’s going to be driven by our embassies and our regional bureaus.” He said that of streamlining the bureaucracy, “we need to be nimble enough to make a decision, but we also have to make sure that these decisions are being made as close to the front lines as possible. What is the front line of diplomacy? It is our embassies. It is the men and women who are deployed abroad on the ground. ... And so that’s our number one goal. The number two goal is to have … all the tools of foreign policy in the same toolbox. Foreign aid is a tool of our foreign policy. … It has to be taken in conjunction with all of these other things that we do, and they have to be intertwined.” He referred to the department as a “soft power entity” in response to a question from Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), explaining: “It’s a department of peace. The department of war is the Department of Defense. Our job is to try to prevent [wars].” Watch the morning session at https://bit.ly/FY26Morning and the afternoon session at https://bit.ly/ FY26Afternoon. On May 21, Rubio returned to the Hill, spending the afternoon testifying before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on “FY26 State Department Posture: Protecting American Interests.” In opening remarks, Representative Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said he looked forward to working with the Secretary to make sure that “every single dollar and diplomat that we authorize and send into the field puts America first.” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) asked how Rubio plans to ensure “that the future of foreign assistance funding decisions are aligned with the president and are not co-opted or watered down by entrenched Foreign Service bureaucrats.” The Secretary said: “I want to be fair here. I have found ... the professional Foreign Service officers ... to be very competent, professional, wanting to deliver
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 17 The Right Thing to Do When we are helping impoverished communities and nations treat diseases, when we are feeding starving children in conflict zones, and when we help ensure villages have drinkable water, we are using and gaining soft power. We do these things because they are the right thing to do. We also do these things because they are in our own interest. They build influence, a global standard, and strengthen our national security. When we retreat from the global stage, China and Russia fill in the gaps, and the world becomes a more dangerous place for Americans. —Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), during a House Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs hearing on May 21. Rapid Pace of Restructuring I support your efforts, Mr. Secretary, to reorganize and streamline department operations, and better integrate programs with our diplomatic and strategic objectives. I’ll note that the rapid pace of certain restructuring has caused some concerns and may require adjustments. Reforms must ensure meritorious programs are not lost, while also improving the benefits that they deliver. We recognize that being accountable and effective are not binary choices, and we should ensure that deployed instruments of power support our interests, deter our enemies, and deepen our strength on the world stage. —Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), during a House Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs hearing on May 21. Soft Power as National Security If we eliminate some of these programs that create stability over there, the chaos will surely come here. —Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), during a Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing on May 20. Fewer Soldiers in Body Bags Investing in soft power means less spending on weapons of war and fewer brave soldiers coming home in body bags. USAID, our nation’s premier development agency, has been central to this strategy. It has helped prevent violent extremism through education, stop deadly pandemics before they reach our shores, and delivered American-grown food to the world’s most desperate corners. —Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), during a House Subcommittee on National Security, State, and Related Programs hearing on May 21. Throwing Out Programs The concern is the wholesale throwing out of the foreign assistance programs for the 0.3 percent of grants that we agree maybe should never have been made. —Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), during a Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing on May 20. A Kingdom of Ash Mr. Secretary, I’ve known you for a while, and I respected very much Senator Rubio, even when we disagreed. … Secretary Rubio is doing precisely what Senator Rubio feared: withholding congressionally appropriated funds, stonewalling oversight, and acting as if laws passed by this body are optional. Secretary Rubio has presided over the dismantling and destruction of everything Senator Rubio once defended. So, although you may be the Secretary of State, the acting head of USAID, the national security adviser, the archivist of America, the empire you have stumbled upon is not one of influence—it is a kingdom of ash. So I ask: Was it worth it? —Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on May 21. JOSH Heard on the Hill on the mission, and to the extent they’re frustrated, in many cases, it’s that they feel impeded by bureaucracy, or by layers and layers of bureaucracy. People don’t join the Foreign Service to get rich. They know they’re doing it for service, and it’s rewarding. … We can’t do the work at the State Department without our professional Foreign Service officers.” Watch the full hearing at https://bit.ly/ FY26-full and the second May 21 budget hearing with the House Sub- committee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs at https://bit.ly/May-21-hearing.
18 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL New Travel Ban Limits Entry from 19 Countries On June 4, President Donald Trump issued a new proclamation restricting the entry of foreign nationals from 19 countries, citing national security and public safety concerns. The order, building on Executive Order 14161, suspends entry for nationals of 12 countries—including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen—and imposes partial restrictions on seven others, including Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. The administration cited deficiencies in identity management, information sharing, and visa overstay rates as key factors behind the restrictions. The State Department will coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to review and update the list every 180 days. As we go to press, implementation of the order and possible diplomatic responses are still unfolding. Student Visas— Vetting Intensifying In early June, U.S. embassies and consulates were ordered to pause scheduling new student and exchange visitor visa appointments while the Trump administration expands its vetting of applicants’ social media activity, a policy shift first reported by Politico and confirmed by a U.S. official to the Associated Press. Although previously scheduled interviews will proceed, the pause affects new appointments as consular officers prepare for expanded review protocols. The expanded vetting specifically targets foreign students and academic institutions that have recently been much in the news. On May 30, 2025, Politico reported that the State Department, under Rubio’s direction, issued a cable ordering consular officers to immediately begin comprehensive online screenings of all nonimmigrant visa applicants affiliated with Harvard University. The new policy applies not only to prospective students but also to faculty, researchers, staff, and guest speakers. The cable ordered a review of applicants’ online presence for anti-Semitic content, adding that the Harvard review will serve as a “pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants” that is expected to extend to other universities. According to the cable obtained by Politico, consular officers have been instructed to consider limited or private social media profiles as potential signs of evasiveness, allowing fraud prevention units to request applicants make their accounts public for further scrutiny. The federal government has stripped Harvard of billions in research funding and temporarily suspended its ability to enroll international students, though that suspension was blocked by a federal judge. Instructions to the field on how and whether to implement new rules have been changing rapidly. The administration has also targeted other academic communities. On May 28, Secretary Rubio stated that the administration would “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese nationals connected to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in sensitive fields in the United States. More than a million international students enrolled in U.S. institutions for the 2023-2024 academic year. Enrollment has already declined 11 percent over the past year, according to TIME, and experts suggest that the latest policies could further discourage qualified foreign applicants. Rigas Confirmed as Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael J. Rigas was sworn in as deputy secretary of State for management and resources by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 29. A Boston native, Rigas brings more than 30 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He served as an associate administrator, senior adviser, and deputy administrator for the General Services Administration during the George W. Bush administration. He served in the previous Trump administration as deputy director and acting director of the Office of Personnel Management from 2018 to 2021 as well as acting deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget and acting Federal Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Prior to that, he was chief of staff at the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services and earlier worked in Republican politics and at the Heritage Foundation. The bludgeoning of PEPFAR and USAID, one of the most eloquent expressions of American values ever created, might be America’s most spectacular act of self-sabotage in generations. U.S. development assistance had its flaws, as its recipients often pointed out, but it was as close to poetry as policy gets. —U2 singer Bono in a March 15 New York Times article titled “Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True.” Contemporary Quote
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 19 Political Appointments and the Foreign Service 50 Years Ago A munificent political contribution does not qualify a person for the arduous diplomatic tasks of an ambassador any more than it qualifies him for a military command as a General or Admiral. The White House politicians should cease degrading the career diplomatic service by appointing political ambassadors. —Letter to the editor by retired FSO Norman J. Bentley in the August 1975 edition of The Foreign Service Journal. He joined the America First Policy Institute as director of the organization’s America First Transition Project in 2022, a project devoted to, in his words, “ensuring a bigger, more qualified, better trained, and loyal team to take control away from the administrative state on day one.” Deputy Secretary Rigas was confirmed by the Senate on May 14. In a message to staff on May 27, he expressed his commitment to public service and his appreciation for the work of State Department personnel. Dismantling of USAGM Continues The Trump administration’s ongoing effort to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), including Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has prompted new appeals from lawmakers concerned about the safety of journalists from authoritarian countries. On May 27, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent joint letters to Secretary Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem urging action to safeguard these journalists, Axios reported. They warned that terminating the employment of USAGMaffiliated personnel could result in their forced return to countries where they face potential persecution and imprisonment. For decades, bipartisan support sustained USAGM’s work to deliver independent news to audiences in developing and autocratic nations. Attempts to dismantle these broadcasting services during Trump’s first term largely failed in court, but during the second Trump administration, the efforts have escalated. This year the firing of hundreds of employees at USAGM networks has triggered a wave of lawsuits with mixed results so far. A federal appellate court recently declined to intervene after temporarily pausing a ruling requiring the administration to reinstate workers. While the government reversed its termination of an RFE/RL grant, financial disputes forced the outlet to lay off most of its staff. On June 3, USAGM submitted a congressional notification on personnel reductions, which would retain only about 80 positions agencywide. The anticipated layoffs follow Trump’s March 14 executive order on “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” directing the elimination of USAGM “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” USAGM Senior Adviser Kari Lake has overseen limited operations to maintain statutory requirements and announced in May that VOA would receive content from One America News Network, a far-right outlet known for promoting conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 and the 2020 election. SIGAR Reports Termination of U.S. Assistance to Afghanistan In its April 2025 quarterly report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) detailed the near-total suspension of U.S. assistance to Afghanistan following a Trump administration review of foreign aid. Under an executive order issued in January, USAID terminated more than $1 billion in programs, retaining only two awards supporting Afghan students abroad. Humanitarian funding was also significantly reduced, including cuts to emergency food assistance and health care. The reductions have forced widespread closure of health facilities and nutrition sites, with United Nations agencies warning that millions of Afghans could lose access to critical services. The World Food Program described the funding cuts as potentially catastrophic for vulnerable populations. The report also highlights ongoing security concerns. ISIS-K remains the most significant external terrorist threat, while the Taliban continue to shelter al-Qaida affiliates and support groups such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
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