Nicholas Burns- U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Ambassador to NATO and Greece, Policy Adviser in three Administrations.
..U.S. Embassies and Consulates – 227 of which 165 are Embassies serving 194 Countries.
..1778- Ben Franklin was First Minister-Diplomat to France.
..1790- Thomas Jefferson was first Secretary of State.
..President Trump relationship with the State Department has been rocky. Cut the budget 1/3, not promoting senior officers, senior positons open; alienated many U.S. allies, accommodating adversaries- Russia.
..State Department Budget 2018- $55.9 billion (-1%); Defense Department- $700 billion (+)
..Cuts include aid, political, economic, public diplomacy programs- USAID, OPIC, EXIM Bank.
..Foreign Service Officers currently 8,000 (not including Local hires).
..Cones (5) - Political, economic, public diplomacy, consular, management.
..Relies more on military leaders than diplomats.
..Trump reversed policy against Transatlantic ties.
..Critical of NATO and sees EU as competitor to U.S.
..Strained relationships with Europe and Canada.
..Against TPP, which 11 countries account for 40% of Global GDP.
..Ended NAFTA Agreement with Mexico and Canada (Closed Utah Kimberly-Clark plant).
..Trade War with China, Japan, South Korea and European Union.
..New Proposed Trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
..Today 65 million displaced people globally.
..Trump perceived as not a champion of democracy; seeing Europe’s rise of anti-democratic populist movement is at odds with traditional country leadership.
..Trump abdicated U.S. role as leader of the West.
..Trump gave up support for International Agreements- Paris Climate Change, Iran Agreement. ..Hiring of new junior officers at State Department fell by 2/3.
..End of 2018 there were 60 Ambassador slots open.
..CIA overthrow of PM Mossadegh of Iran 1953. Overthrow of Shah in 1979; Embassy attack.
..State Department- Opinion on Secretary Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo.
..Ho Chi Min- French Indo-China- Viet Nam.
..Support of Dictators in Central America, South Africa; selective overthrow in Cuba, Zimbabwe, Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak replaced by Morsi (Muslim Brotherhood).
..Our overseas Missions are an important First-line of Defense and Intelligence gathering.
..Foreign policy, business, trade, investments, security, economic, citizen services, passports, bail, deaths.
..Agreements- Democracy, human rights, nuclear arms, pandemics, conflicts, treaties.
..Since 9/11 more focus on terrorism, and security; less on diplomacy.
..Today there is more political focus on combating Russia and China's influence and economic expansion.
State Department needs to rebuild alliances, foreign policy of engagement,
JP: U.S. Inconsistent Foreign Policy; civil affairs work- Comoros.
..Diplomacy First- Invasion of Iraq, Syria, Libya, Viet Nam, Cuba.
..State Department redundancy-structure, Rotation frequency (seeking- bidding for next job); military leadership rotations at the top levels.
Burns: Need for strong, fully funded State Department. State of crisis since the start of Trump Administration.