Letter from the Editor

BY SHAWN DORMAN

As we go to press, we drop this final page into the December edition—our annual focus on constructive dissent and outstanding performance in the Foreign Service told through the stories of recipients of the yearly AFSA awards. It has been a remarkable year. The 2024 presidential election was just called for Donald Trump. The American people have spoken, and now we head into the transition.

The Foreign Service will, of course, remain engaged representing the U.S. to the world. The American Foreign Service Association will remain on the job representing you and supporting our professional, nonpartisan institution. And the FSJ will remain a place for your voices, as it has been for more than 100 years.

On the cusp of the next century of diplomatic service, let us gain inspiration from this year’s excellent award recipients, from the venerable Marc Grossman, selected for the Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award; to Foreign Service Champion Patricia Hanigan Scroggs; to the constructive dissent award winners: Mike Casey, Emily Green, David Houston, Mariya Ilyas, Caryl Tuma, and Konrad Turski; and to those recognized for outstanding performance: Paul Estrada, Harry Kopp, Anne Martin-Montgomery, Cornell Overfield, Christophe Paccard, Dana Sutcliffe, Diana Trinh, Mark Wilson, Dinah Zeltser-Winant, and Sherri Zimmermann.

During this centennial year for the Foreign Service and AFSA, in 10 editions of the FSJ, we have featured more than 100 of your voices, all contributing to the conversation about the past, present, and future of the Foreign Service and diplomacy. We heard from those who are in or have held critical high-level positions (Antony Blinken, Samantha Power, James Baker, Hillary Clinton, Julianne Smith, Nick Burns, to name a few), and many currently serving, making a difference on the ground in places like Ukraine, Palau, and Oman. Thank you to all who have engaged with the community through these pages.

Thank you to the hundreds who responded to our FSJ Reader Survey. We will report back on the results and adjust our coverage based on your input.

This month we present the Editorial Calendar of focus topics for 2025 (see box), and we invite you to consider writing for the Journal on one of these themes or on any other Foreign Service, diplomacy, or development issue.

Find details about the various Journal departments and how to submit an article, letter, or photo in the Author Guidelines at www.afsa.org/fsj-author-guidelines. We are always seeking submissions for Speaking Out, Reflections, Features, FS Know-How, FS Heritage, Off-Road with the FS, Local Lens, and Book Reviews. Send your submissions, pitches, questions, and comments to journal@afsa.org.

And finally, a shout-out to this month’s Local Lens contributor FSO Nathan Tidwell for taking the centennial FSJ along to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Not sure anyone can top that, but we invite you to try—snap a photo with the FSJ from a cool location and send it over to journal@afsa.org.

We welcome your responses to this edition and ideas for future articles as we prepare to kick off the next Foreign Service century in a few short weeks. Please consider writing for us in 2025.