18 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL SPEAKING OUT Eric Rubin joined the State Department as a political officer in 1985 and retired in 2023. He served in Honduras, Ukraine, Thailand, Russia, and Washington, D.C., and as U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria from 2016 to 2019. He was president of AFSA from 2019 to 2023. The views expressed here are solely those of the author. The modern U.S. Foreign Service observed its 100th anniversary last year. The occasion was marked by celebrations, commemorations, and retrospectives on the history and achievements of America’s diplomatic corps. Despite the cause for celebration, there were many who thought the road ahead looked difficult. Members of the Foreign Service who served in the first Trump administration can be forgiven for assuming that the second Trump administration would proceed along similar lines. That assumption has been demonstrably disproven in the past half year. Some Things to Consider In that regard, here are several basic conclusions and assumptions I wish to offer for your consideration. 1. This administration has almost nothing in common with the first Trump term when it comes to the Foreign Service, American diplomacy, and the role of career, nonpartisan public servants. Like many of you, I served in the first Trump administration, first as an ambassador and later as president of AFSA. Today, our political leadership has revealed that it does not trust or respect career public servants and considers us untrustworthy. The administration’s attitude toward international development assistance was made clear by the rapid and complete destruction of USAID. 2. The senior leadership of our foreign affairs agencies and the senior leadership at the White House appear determined to destroy the Foreign Service as we have known it since 1924. Starting with the closure of USAID, which ended thousands of careers dedicated to service, the administration has since moved at warp speed to de-staff and de-resource two more foreign affairs agencies, the U.S. Agency for Global Media and the State Department. The Foreign Service has already lost close to a fifth of its workforce due to the “fork in the road” retirement incentives, the start of reductions in force (RIFs), and a very visible exodus of career talent at all levels. The consequences in terms of lost capacity, lost experience, lost knowledge, and lost effectiveness cannot be exaggerated. Whether or not a significant number of posts are closed—it’s still unclear as I write this in July—our overseas presence will be a shadow of its former self, and John F. Kennedy’s vision of universal diplomatic representation will be in tatters. And, as the cliché goes, the Chinese will eat our lunch. They are already doing so across the globe. 3. Fear is an effective tool. In fact, it seems to be the primary tool in this administration’s tool kit as far as career employees are concerned. There are two explicit goals to instilling fear in the workforce: first, to get employees to quit or retire in large numbers to achieve the slash-and-burn reductions that have been promised, and second, to ensure that those employees who remain will be afraid to speak up, dissent, or disagree. We have fallen so far in half a year: Before Inauguration Day, we had a Secretary of State who encouraged constructive dissent, revived the Dissent Channel, and read every message submitted through it. 4. Diplomacy has been sidelined, and with it the Foreign Service. Senior career officers, Civil Service and Foreign Service alike, have been sidelined. There are no senior career officers on the National Security Council staff following the Laura Loomer–directed purges, and there are no senior career officers in policymaking positions at State. There are senior career officers in “Senior Bureau Official” or “Acting” positions, but these are not confirmed by the Senate and, by definition, are not policymaking jobs. The Way Ahead BY ERIC RUBIN We know that our country needs diplomacy and needs diplomatic expertise, experience, and talent.
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