The Foreign Service Journal, December 2020

statements advising all Americans to avoid travel on cruise ships, as the industry could not protect passengers from COVID-19 transmission. This policy position prevailed in the face of tremendous direct industry pressure to retract the statements. “As a consular officer, I know to my core that protecting Americans overseas and publicizing the best guidance for them are vital,” she tells the FSJ . “During the pandemic, I advocated for fast and aggressive messaging to U.S. citizens by State and CDC, when such messaging was seen by some as a risk to economic stability.” Ms. Stufft’s recommendation to senior officials that global travel advisories be issued to warn Americans against the spread of COVID-19 also met with strong resistance. Some flatly stated they would not support it because of the economic impact. Ms. Stufft pressed the point that State’s and CDC’s travel advisory processes were based on risk to Americans, not economic consid- erations, ultimately winning the support of NSC leadership and other senior officials, and the advisories were issued. Ms. Stufft was also instrumental in promoting State’s right to issue country- specific travel advisories and repatriations that helped bring Americans home during the pandemic. In the earliest days of the pandemic, individual country travel adviso- ries required agreement from all principals. As a result, advisories for some locations, where U.S. diplomatic missions were draw- ing down personnel, were held up for days or weeks. Ms. Stufft argued that State and CDC were obligated to immediately issue their own advisories, removing them from the gummed-up senior leadership review process so that Americans could receive timely guidance. Detailed to the NSC during a time in which some founda- tional State Department practices and policies were ques- tioned in the White House, Ms. Stufft—sometimes the only career State Department official in the room—sought not only to offer the best policy advice, but to be the best representative of the U.S. Foreign Service to those unfamiliar with career dip- lomats. She brought others from State into the effort and saw that everyone who worked closely with them gained a deeper understanding of the professionalism, creativity and determi- nation of FS personnel. “In an environment often characterized by a lack of trust between career officials and political appointees,” she tells the FSJ , “I saw senior White House staff and other political appointees who, despite never having been exposed to this policy set, grasp the importance of protecting and advising Americans abroad and strongly advocate for that position. I was nominated for this award by leadership who understand the inherent value of constructive dissent; but I won’t forget that they had more to lose in their advocacy than I did, and they did the right thing.” Ms. Stufft feels strongly about the importance of constructive dissent. “As a deputy chief of mission, I finally under- stood the essential role of constructive dis- sent in foreign policy making,” she says. “I think early in our careers, we may wonder if dissent is really compatible with adher- ing to the chain of command—we picture dissenters as lone wolves rebuked by their supervisors for eschewing the policy process. On the contrary, I’ve never had a supervisor who did not appreciate well- considered opposing viewpoints. As DCM, I was thrilled to have someone on my staff say, ‘Julie, I think we need to rethink this policy, and here’s why.’ Consider construc- tive dissent as part of the policy process, not separate from it.” Julie M. Stufft currently serves as managing director for visa services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Ms. Stufft previously served as DCM in Moldova and Djibouti. She has also served in Rus- sia, Ethiopia and Poland, as well as in the State Department Operations Center. She was a 2014-2015 Fellow to Seminar XXI at MIT’s Center for International Studies. Ms. Stufft is origi- nally from Ohio and holds degrees from Case Western Reserve University and Duke University. She speaks Russian, Roma- nian, French and Polish. Consider constructive dissent as part of the policy process, not separate from it. —Julie M. Stufft Julie Stufft with her family in front of the White House during her tenure on the National Security Council. THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2020 33