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
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