The Foreign Service Journal, November 2022

24 NOVEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Here, Senior FSO Jennifer Bachus explains what the creation of State’s cyber bureau—a long-awaited development—means for U.S. foreign policy and the Foreign Service. New BUREA U New CYBER PRIORITIES in Foreign Affairs COVER STORY AFSA President Eric Rubin: I’m particularly glad to be able to do one of our Inside Diplomacy talks on a topic that has attracted so much interest, and we are very lucky that AFSA can help high- light the new bureau very early on. This past April, the Department of State’s new Cyberspace and Digital Policy Bureau (CDP) began operations. It’s a key piece of Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken’s agenda for the moderniza- tion of American diplomacy. Cyberspace affects all of our lives in ways sometimes we don’t even realize. The new bureau is requiring structural changes and modernization within the State Department, reshaping and expanding previous structures, and adding more diplomatic per- sonnel and expertise toward the new priorities. I hope that today’s discussion can help focus better under- standing about what this long-awaited development means for U.S. foreign policy priorities, for all of our colleagues in the foreign affairs community, and, in particular, what it means for our Foreign Service workforce. T he July 14 AFSA Inside Diplomacy event featured Senior Foreign Service Officer Jennifer Bachus in an interview with AFSA President Eric Rubin. Bachus had recently taken on the position of principal deputy assis- tant secretary (PDAS) and the senior official in the State Department’s newly created Cyber- space and Digital Policy Bureau. Here are excerpts from their discussion. ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/VIT_MAR