The Trump administration is waging such a relentless series of assaults on diplomacy that it’s difficult to comprehend their cumulative effect. Many of us have warned repeatedly about the damage inflicted on the United States’ global leadership, but to the American public those warnings may seem abstract and remote.
It’s becoming clear, however, that the administration’s misguided, cruel and corrupt acts — destroying expertise in favor of blind loyalty, dismantling institutions and entrusting diplomacy to dilettantes determined to enrich themselves — have produced tangible consequences.
The Trump team’s staggering incompetence in the Iran conflict, exacerbated by its sidelining of professional diplomats and stubborn refusal to listen to their advice, is making Americans’ lives worse.
Gas prices and the resulting inflation are just the beginning. The instability and unpredictability the administration has unleashed — and the realization around the world that the mighty United States can’t get Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — will likely cost the country dearly in the short and medium term.
But another consequence of the war on diplomacy is perhaps even worse, because its effects will be felt for decades.
I’m in the diplomacy-training business, meaning I help prepare the next generation of diplomats around the world. Based on my observations and research — I admit, I don’t have comprehensive statistics — fewer students today are choosing diplomatic careers than at any point in decades.
That will be devastating to the country’s ability to resolve problems internationally and advance its interests — and to remain a superpower. Yet no one in the administration or the media seems concerned about it.
I noticed the trend in the spring, as we at the Washington International Diplomatic Academy (WIDA), which I lead, reviewed applications to our summer training program — a course for students and recent graduates interested in diplomatic careers. We enrolled half as many participants as we had just a couple of years ago.
On the first day of the program every summer, I make a point of expressing my appreciation to the class for making a significant financial and time investment to learn not only what diplomats do, but how they do it. My gratitude was especially profound this year, because the students in front of me remained committed to diplomacy despite everything happening around them.
But they weren’t the best people to ask why fewer students are pursuing diplomatic careers. So I tasked one of our interns, Alejandro Orestano Balassa, with writing a story about the trend to be published in the Diplomatic Diary, our e-journal.
He interviewed undergraduate students majoring in international relations or political science from several countries. They told him that they intend to seek work that crosses borders and shapes world affairs.
But instead of their countries’ diplomatic services, they are turning to other national-security agencies, international organizations, consulting firms and technology companies. Although they admire diplomacy, they see it as more politicized, less influential and less attractive than competing international careers.
“There used to be much more respect for diplomats,” said Daniela Denyer, a Brazilian-Colombian student at King’s College London.
“It used to be a very transcendental job, where day-to-day politics in your home-country weren’t supposed to affect your job,” she said. “However, it feels like many countries have turned toward populism in recent years, and these populist leaders in charge seem to have no respect for diplomacy and turn toward yes-men more and more often.”
Megan Holmes, an American student at George Washington University, chose the school because of its ties and physical proximity to the State Department and expected to apply to the Foreign Service. Now she plans to work in security policy, but elsewhere in government.
After the Trump administration forced out hundreds of career diplomats last year, “I discovered how many other things feed into international affairs on the home front,” she said.
The State Department and ministries of foreign affairs around the world face a monumental recruitment challenge. Diplomacy isn’t a profession in which new recruits graduate with enough knowledge to start working immediately. No university teaches diplomatic tradecraft — only WIDA does — and new diplomats need vital additional training and years of experience.
Last year, the State Department eliminated its recruitment office and has now hired an outside firm with no diplomatic expertise, whose CEO “would love to see a lot of Christians” supporting Trump’s agenda apply to the Foreign Service. This transparent effort to fill the service with loyalists is pushing away the best applicants, who want to advance national interests, not blatantly partisan ones.
A shortage of strong candidates may last just a few years, but it will cripple diplomatic capacity and influence for decades. The question is: Do we have leaders farsighted enough to recognize that?
Read Alejandro’s full story in the Diplomatic Diary.
Nicholas Kralev is the founder and CEO of the Washington International Diplomatic Academy, and a former Financial Times and Washington Times correspondent. His books include “Diplomatic Tradecraft,” “America’s Other Army” and “Diplomats in the Trenches.”
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