Title: A Counter Examination of Project 2025: Strengthening American Diplomacy
By: Johnson, President, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
It’s the twenty-first installment of a series offering a nonpartisan critique of Project 2025, a conservative guideline developed by the group Heritage Foundation, aimed at reforming government and policymaking in the first six months of a potential second term for the Trump administration. Here we engage in unbiased critical thinking, challenge antiquated assumptions, and bring to bear facts and data to shed light on Project 2025.
The heritage of America’s State Department mirrors the history of the nation, reflecting the significance placed on international relations. Established in 1879 as one of the first Cabinet departments, it houses two distinct, congressionally mandated, and nonpartisan career sectors – the Foreign Service and the Civil Service. Both these professional cadres uphold the Constitution, and their strengthening, not dilution, is crucial in a globalized world fraught with intricacies and interdependencies.
A luminary of diplomacy, Chas Freeman lauded the virtues of a professional, nonpartisan diplomatic service. To paraphrase him, much of the power diplomacy holds lies in curating strategic relationships, managing conflicting interests, and preventing wasteful defense spendings and unnecessary confrontations by utilizing dialogue as a tool.
In this discourse, we scrutinize the vision Project 2025 has for American diplomatic management, with particular emphasis on the State Department section, authored by Kiron Skinner, a former Trump policy advisor. The vision is essentially rooted in two beliefs: the requirement for numerous politically-aligned appointees, and the need for departmental restructuring to enforce the president’s foreign policy agenda.
The Rogers Act established the United States Foreign Service in 1924 as a professional, nonpartisan career cadre designed to uphold US diplomatic service. The Act has been repeatedly updated to reinforce and preserve this foundational principle. In this complex diplomatic landscape, have any changes occurred that render these principles less important today?
The analysis of the first and third parts of Project 2025 will then be assessed, followed by a brief commentary on the foreign policy agenda.
Skinner posits that a key problem that the next president must is fixing the “tug-of-war” between bureaucracy and presidency. An assertion is made that state department employees are more likely to be left-leaning and resistant to a conservative president’s agenda, without providing corroborating examples. This diagnosis oversimplifies the complex dynamics of bureaucracy, overlooking the nonpartisan commitment of these professionals to implement any foreign policy decision the political leaders make.
Project 2025 proposes an increased number of political appointees, which could potentially revert us to the era before the 1883 Pendleton Act, valuing partisan loyalty over professionalism and expertise.
Repeated calls for structural reform and streamlining in the department have been made over the years. A more constructive approach would be a bipartisan commission comprising members of the foreign and civil services, congressional members, academics and individuals well-versed in foreign policy and diplomatic practices. Such a commission would be better equipped to make recommendations for reforms that best meet the requirements of modern diplomacy.
The foreign policy section of Project 2025 conveys an “us versus them” mindset, focusing on nations posing ‘existential threats’ to the US. It offers a more confrontational approach, rather than seeking consensus on national security based on shared values. Perhaps it would be more beneficial to heed the wisdom of George Shultz, who noted the importance of “earned trust” in shaping cooperation or conflict in international relations.
In the best national interest, it is crucial to question, analyze, and critique such projects to promote informed policymaking and governance. As the series unfolds, we will delve deeper into Project 2025.
