Category: Diplomacy in Crisis

Tibor Nagy, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
United States diplomacy by ‘special envoys’

Julie Moyes, Public Diplomacy Council of America
The Soft Power of Historical Connections

The Cost to America and the World The American Diplomacy journal has focused its mission on presenting the voices of practitioners:  commentaries and stories from people who “have been there.”  With this section of the journal, we aim to explore … Read more

Tibor Nagy, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
United States diplomacy by ‘special envoys’

Julie Moyes, Public Diplomacy Council of America
The Soft Power of Historical Connections

Various Authors, Foreign Service Journal, November-December 2025

Service Disrupted: Views from the Field
Kate Yeo, Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Strategic Costs of U.S. Exchange Program Cuts in Southeast Asia

Connor Echols, Responsible Statecraft
Is there a brewing crisis in the State Dept’s Mideast Bureau?

Max Rego, The Hill
Radio Free Asia halting operations for first time in 29-year-history amid shutdown

The message below from the American Foreign Service Association’s general counsel is a stark reminder of the challenges faced today by our country’s professional diplomats. Urgent Message from AFSA’s General Counsel: Your Rights Are at Risk   Dear Colleagues,   … Read more

RIF’d State and AID Employees, American Foreign Service Association
Service Disrupted: Firsthand Accounts from the Field

Alex Thomas, Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Ex-USAID worker mourns agency’s fate

Day Mount, The Falmouth Enterprise
AFSA: A Union That Can’t Strike

Nahal Toosi, Politico
Trump is breaking US diplomacy, State Department staffers say

Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor
State Department cuts raise a question: What is the US national interest?

Sarah Gal, Public Diplomacy Council of America
People to People Outreach — How It Works for Orlando Florida

Abigail Williams and Dan De Luce, NBC News
U.S. diplomats say they’re reluctant to share inconvenient truths with the Trump administration

The Cost to America and the World The American Diplomacy journal has focused its mission on presenting the voices of practitioners:  commentaries and stories from people who “have been there.”  With this section of the journal, we aim to explore … Read more

John Dinkelman, Newsweek
American Diplomacy Is Being Dismantled Before Our Eyes 

William J. Burns, The Atlantic
A Letter to America’s Discarded Public Servants 

Americans for Cultural Exchange Action Alert

John Dinkelman, Foreign Policy
Trump’s State Department Cuts Are a Self-Inflicted Wound

Matthew Wallin, American Security Project
Carelessly Reducing the Size of the State Department is a Profound Mistake 

Terry Gerton interview with Ambassador Gordon Gray, Federal News Network
National security risks behind a wave of cuts at the State Department

Mark Asquino and Pat Kushlis, Santa Fe New Mexican
Foreign Service budget cuts should be reversed

Ken Brill, The Hill
Trump is causing generational damage to American diplomacy

Elizabeth Shackelford, The Bulletin
Commentary: Burning down America’s best tool for peace and prosperity

Michael Boorstein, Democracy of Hope
USAID closure will hurt America

Christopher Hill, Colorado Public Radio
Former ambassador talks diplomatic rollback, international implications

Akbar Shahid Ahmed, HuffPost
Trump Is Gutting The State Department And Dragging Diplomats ‘Through The Mud’

Keith Peterson, Pagesuite
What State Department firings say about ‘reforms’

Kat Lonsdorf, Todd Bowmnan, NPR
State Dept. cuts China experts as administration says countering Beijing top priority

Jory Heckman, FederalNewsNetwork
These are the State Department offices hit hardest by widespread layoffs

Day O. Mount, The Enterprise Falmouth
A Fraught Future For Foreign Service

Press Release, American Foreign Service Association
AFSA Strongly Opposes State Department Reductions in Force

Press Release, The American Academy of Diplomacy
The Academy Opposes Deep Cuts to American Diplomats

Abigail Williams, NBCNews
Veteran U.S. diplomats baffled after mass layoffs at State Department

Kama Garrison, The Oklahoman
The cruelty of ending work at USAID erases a lifetime of humanitarianism

The Steady State
Statement from The Steady State on the Mass Firing of State Department Officers

Michael Boorstein, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USAID closure will hurt Florida – and America

Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis, Reuters
Over 100 former senior officials warn against planned staff cuts at US State Department
Anna Gawel, devex
State Department employees in anxious limbo over massive staff cuts
Jory Heckman, Federal News Network
‘Fidelity’ to Trump policies now part of criteria for Foreign Service promotions
Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press News
Bush, Obama — and singer Bono — fault Trump’s gutting of USAID on agency’s last day
Ari Daniel, npr
Farewell to USAID: Reflections on the agency that President Trump dismantled
Jim Bever, The Foreign Service Journal
When USAID Disappears
Shaun Tandon, Barron’s (from AFP News)
Rubio Hails End Of USAID As Bush, Obama Deplore Cost In Lives

The Guardian

US state department told to end nearly all its overseas pro-democracy programs
All but two of the programs awarded under the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor would be cut, affecting nearly $1.3bn in grants

General Joe Votel, former Centcom Commander, YouTube
VOA Is a National Security Asset, Not Just a News Outlet

Ambassador William Burns, YouTube
Stand Up for Service

Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters
American Foreign Service Association urges State Dept to halt planned layoffs amid litigation

William Herkewitz, NYT
I Worked at U.S.A.I.D. for Over 8 Years. This Is Our Biggest Failure.

Ben Johansen, Politico
Majority of staff axed at Voice of America

Various Authors, AFSA Media Digest. What We’ve Lost
ELLEN KNICKMEYER and LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press. Rubio orders firings of all USAID staffers overseas to move forward
Briana (Odom) Imran, Federal News Network. Executive order may alter rights for Foreign Service employees
Dennis Jett, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Donald Trump is selling more ambassadorships than normal
Ben Johansen, Politico. US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict 
Opinion Letters, New York Times. Dimming America’s Beacons to the World