American Foreign Service Association

08/05/2026

In her excellent new essay for American Diplomacy, AFSA's Lisa Heller examines the forces that have slowly reshaped the Foreign Service over the past three decades.

She notes that, while institutions can adapt to gradual change, "what has happened since January 2025 is a typhoon."

Read Lisa's thoughtful reflection on how we got here—and what kind of Foreign Service the nation now has to decide to build.

https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2026/08/currents-on-the-water-thirty-years-that-remade-the-foreign-service/

08/04/2026

AFSA President John Dinkelman talked to BBC about the scores of evacuated U.S. diplomats still in limbo due to the ongoing war with Iran.

The segment ran live on BBC's TV broadcast on Friday. If you missed it, here are some top highlights of the conversation.

08/03/2026

Austan Mogharabi, AFSA's USAID Board Rep., tunes in from vacation to reflect on the latest news.

(Who needs an office when you've got vacation views!)

07/31/2026

Yes, this was a serious and embarrassing mistake, and the department is right to apologize. But mostly, it is a sad reminder (and perhaps alarm) about what happens when leadership no longer cares about expertise. For more than a year, the State Department has been battered by layoffs, the marginalization of career expertise, uncertainty, and largely absent leadership.

The department is still full of talented, dedicated public servants. But no workforce can be expected to perform at its best when the institution around it has been weakened.

A U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at ‌a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online.

07/30/2026

AFSA Calls on State Department to Provide Clarity for Evacuated Employees

Since February, hundreds of American diplomats and their families have been evacuated from embassies and consulates across the Middle East for their safety, as Iran’s retaliatory strikes and a conflict with the U.S. have kept the region unstable with no end in sight.

Read the statement: https://afsa.org/afsa-calls-state-department-provide-clarity-evacuated-employees

07/29/2026

According to Bloomberg, the State Department has contracted MilitaryHire to look for candidates with the "expertise needed to advance its priorities", putting an emphasis on “cultural fit.”

We are concerned that this runs a very real risk of politicizing the historically non-partisan Foreign Service, which serves regardless of the administration and does not change out every four years.

As AFSA President John Dinkelman told Bloomberg, it is not in our nation's best interest to have the professional diplomatic corps replaced with one selected for political compatibility.

The article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-29/state-department-taps-redballoon-to-find-workers-loyal-to-trump-goals

07/27/2026

As the war in the Middle East drags on, U.S. diplomats are left in limbo—evacuated from post, uncertain about their future.

The State Department has introduced a new "restricted operations" designation that would allow diplomatic posts under prolonged ordered or authorized departures to operate with staffing levels above the current minimum.

We're hearing confusion and concern from our members, largely because little information has been shared about what this designation means in practice.

Read more:

Frustrations are mounting as the State Department offers no clear answers about when diplomats might return to Middle East posts. A spokesperson said providing a timeline isn’t possible “because the security environment remains dynamic.”

07/23/2026

Diplomat-turned-cartoonist Brian Aggeler marks the one year anniversary of the haphazard and unstrategic State Department "reorganization" with this brilliant cartoon. Plus: the fascinating process of how it gets made.

As seen in the July-August issue of The Foreign Service Journal.

07/21/2026

Last week, during our Missing Badge press conference, Maryum Saifee, a laid-off State Department Foreign Service officer and AFSA member, spoke with NPR about what the State Department purge has meant for U.S. diplomacy during the war in Iran.

Thank you to NPR for covering this important story and to the ever-articulate Maryum for helping explain what's at stake.

Take a listen: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/20/nx-s1-5896220/the-war-in-iran-has-left-hundreds-of-u-s-diplomats-in-limbo

07/20/2026

We are proud to honor Ambassador William J. "Bill" Burns with the 2026 AFSA Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award.

Widely regarded as the finest diplomat of his generation, Amb. Burns devoted more than three decades to advancing American diplomacy. He later became the first career diplomat to lead the CIA and has remained a steadfast advocate for the Foreign Service, including as a spokesperson for AFSA's Service Disrupted campaign.

We will be celebrating Amb. Burns at the 2026 AFSA Awards Ceremony on Oct. 14 at Georgetown University.

Save the date and join us in celebrating a remarkable colleague, mentor, and friend.

More about the award: https://afsa.org/lifetime-contributions-american-diplomacy-award