The authors note that “despite the decades-long failure to implement essential reforms and even in the face of sustained hostility from the [Donald J. Trump] administration diplomacy remains the best tool the United States has to advance its foreign policy interests.”
“But many of the challenges facing the DOS have existed for decades,” they explain. “Deficits in diversity, institutional culture, and professionalization are endemic to the State Department as an institution, and a diminished policy role for career officials persisted under previous administrations.”
Zeya and Finer identify areas in greatest need of reform and offer the following recommendations for the next secretary of state: