Trump Would Rather Have Ammo Than Diplomats

Jim Mattis, U.S. Secretary of Defense during President Donald Trump’s first term, said, “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.”

In his second term, President Trump certainly hasn’t paid attention to Mr. Mattis’ advice. As of late, State Department diplomats are discouraged and unable to do their jobs, according to a report by the organization representing foreign service officers. The report, based on a survey of foreign service members, found that 98% of respondents said morale had declined since January, and a third were considering leaving the foreign service early. In addition, the report said 25% of the foreign service have resigned, retired, or seen their agencies being dismantled since January.

Many diplomats have lost their jobs due to the US Agency for International Development’s decimation. More than 240 foreign service officers were given termination notices in July, as part of the State Department’s reorganization.

“The U.S. Foreign Service is being systematically undermined by its own leadership,” American Foreign Service Association President John Dinkelman warned in the report. “The Foreign Service—the very institution tasked with navigating our global interests—is being dismantled in real time.”

According to reports, more than 2,100 AFSA members responded to a survey conducted between August and September of this year. Eighty-six percent said policy changes made by the Trump administration “have negatively affected their ability to implement the foreign policy of the United States.” Just one percent of respondents reported any improvement. Many survey respondents reported that diplomatic work is now more difficult because of cuts in budgets and staff and “diminished credibility.” Foreign policy experts and diplomats have said the Trump Administration’s foreign policy, including cuts to foreign aid, threatens the US’s credibility overseas.

The Trump Administration’s actions have hobbled the diplomatic wing of our government that taxpayers pay for. A senior department official said that career diplomats were “integral in informing and implementing policy” on things like the “response to Hurricane Melissa, our efforts to secure peace between Cambodia and Thailand, and our work in Iraq, Haiti, and in South America.” Instead of relying on seasoned diplomats, the Administration relies on business allies and personal friends to conduct US foreign policy.

This Administration, like right-wing populist parties abroad, doesn’t trust people who have spent their lives conducting expertise in their respective fields, which is dangerous because people with expertise know more than those who don’t. Right-wing populists put their faith in leaders who front their movements, regardless of how strong or weak the arguments are. Internet technology is valuable in these movements because it allows expertise to be challenged easily.

America must rediscover its Enlightenment past, a significant influence on the American Revolution. We must also reject the demagoguery that is a part of right-wing populism and dedicate ourselves to the Enlightenment tradition of solving problems via reason, especially in foreign policy. In other words, we must value the opinions of the State Department’s foreign policy specialists. If we don’t, we’ll pay the price later.

Jason Sibert of St. Louis, Mo., is the Lead Writer for the Peace Economy Project.

Email jasonsibert@hotmail.com.