The Foreign Service Journal, October 2020

16 OCTOBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL “Diplomacy in Crisis” Report Issued S enate Democrats released a report on July 28 blasting the Trump administra- tion’s management of the State Depart- ment. The 46-page document, “Diplomacy in Crisis: The Trump Administration’s Decimation of the State Department,” was prepared for the Committee on Foreign Relations by its minority staff. “The Trump administration’s negli- gence and its attacks on our diplomatic corps, who serve on the frontlines of our global pandemic response, have left dip- lomats devoid of leadership and cost the United States valuable time in prepared- ness and response efforts,” the document states. “Every day, our diplomatic profession- als work to ensure American safety and security, sometimes placing their lives on the line in their patriotic service. In exchange, they must be guaranteed the support of their leadership and a work environment free from politicization and discrimination,” the report continues. The report makes 10 recommenda- tions to bolster the State Department: • Rebuild and retain expertise in the State Department’s ranks; • Reduce barriers to restoring lost expertise and for former diplomats and civil servants to return to the department; • Promote more career employees to senior positions; • Increase diversity at senior ranks and throughout the department; • Formalize the State Department’s exit survey process; • Initiate a review of how the “corridor reputation” system at the department enables or exacerbates the chal- lenges outlined in this report; • Restore and commit to minimum vetting standards; • Prioritize and fill senior leadership slots; • Maintain an independent inspector general; and • Enforce accountability for improper personnel practices and manage- ment. Ambassador (ret.) Tom Shannon, who served as Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018, praised the report. “For me, the recommendation s in this report are the beginning of a larger conversation about what needs to be done—in the executive branch and in the legislative branch—to ensure that the Department of State and its officers—For- eign Service and Civil Service—can con- duct the analysis, the interagency work, the implementation and the diplomacy necessary to ensure the peace and pros- T rying to figure out where you are allowed to travel in the midst of the pandemic? Check out the Covid Controls dashboard for all the latest info. The dashboard lets you see on a color-coded map which coun- tries people can travel to, as well as whether you will need to lock down on arrival. You can also drill down to individual American states to see what restrictions you might face. The dashboard also contains a variety of COVID-19 statistics, such as the number of deaths or currently sick, as well as how things are trend- ing around the globe. To see current restrictions on American travelers, select “United Site of the Month Covid Controls: A Travel Dashboard (www.covidcontrols.co ) States” from the Travel History (Last 14 Days) dropdown menu on the home page. The site, which is updated daily, tracks more than 500 official sources, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, local tour- ism boards and official foreign travel advisories. The dashboard was launched by a team of researchers who met at the Singapore–Massachusetts Institute of Technology Alliance for Research and Technology. “We were a team conducting research at the intersection of big data, design and travel,”Mohit Shah, one of the creators, told CNBC. “We created it because we saw there was no comprehensive Covid-19 dashboard specifically geared toward travelers, especially at a time when the situation is changing so rapidly.”