The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2026

Cover	1
Contents	4
Focus on the U.S. in the World at 250	20
Unfinished Work: Why a Healthy Democracy Is Essential to Our Foreign Policy	20
A National Security Council Out of Balance	25
When America Falls Silent: The Strategic Costs of Dismantling VOA	30
Are We Seeing the Reemergence of the Spoils System?	34
The Invention of U.S. Diplomacy	38
The Past Is Never Past: How State Historians Tell America’s Foreign Policy Story	42
Feature	46
Making Truth Travel Faster Than Lies: Public Diplomacy at the Front Lines of Migration	46
FS Heritage	49
The Trent Affair: When Diplomacy Saved the Union	49
Perspectives	7
President’s Views—Stand with AFSA	7
Letter from the Editor—Diplomacy Beyond 250	9
Speaking Out—Shaping the Next 250 Years of U.S. Diplomacy: Vision, Humility, and Action	18
Reflections—A Birth on the Shore of the Toliara Lagoon	84
Local Lens—Samarkand, Uzbekistan	86
Departments	10
Letters	10
Talking Points	12
In Memory	67
Books	77
Marketplace	80
Real Estate	80
Index to Advertisers	82
Classifieds	83
AFSA News	53
AFSA Honors Fallen Diplomats on FS Day, Without State	53
AFSA Condemns May 5 Reduction in Force	53
State VP Voice—Fidelity, Dissent, and Hypocrisy	54
USAID Representative Voice—How to Represent the Foreign Service Now	55
Retiree VP Voice—Steadfast at 250	56
AFSA Opposes Proposed Government-wide NDA	56
A Lasting Investment in Diplomacy	59
AFSA Governing Board Meetings, March 18 and April 15, 2026	59
AFSA’s General Counsel Leaves Lasting Legacy	60
AFSA Welcomes New Hires	64
AFSA’s Road Scholar Program Returns to D.C.	64
AFSA Raises Alarm over EER Process Integrity	65
Foreign Service Departures	65

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