In its place, a newly surfaced draft executive order is awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature. It goes into great detail on a visionary agenda to rebuild the State Department. While undated, the 16-page transition paper proposes sweeping changes that would fundamentally remodel U.S. diplomatic operations around the world.
The draft order calls for the elimination of all “non-essential embassies and consulates in Sub-Saharan Africa.” This is an effort to make government operations more efficient and concentrate the government’s resources where they are seen as most strategically important. The proposed consolidation of regional bureaus into Secretary Blinken’s Centralized at State, Inc.
Under the new framework, the existing regional bureaus would be merged into four designated “regional corps”: Eurasia, Mid-East, Latin America, and Indo-Pacific. Each corps would include soldiers from all allied countries and territories, with the hope of increasing agility, flexibility and responsiveness.
- The Eurasia regional corps would cover Europe, Russia, and Central Asia.
- The Mid-East regional corps would include Arab nations, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
- The Latin America regional corps would take in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
- The Indo-Pacific regional corps would encompass East and Southeast Asia, as well as key countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives.
The draft calls for the abolition of bureaus dealing with democracy and human rights. Further, international organizations such as the United Nations would find their roles greatly reduced in this new regime.
The suggested reforms go much further than just the assignment and training of U.S. diplomats. The draft represents the most significant restructuring of America’s diplomatic toolbox yet. It intends to synchronize all of these efforts with the “American First Strategic Doctrine,” demonstrating the Executive Branch’s priorities.
“streamline mission delivery, project American strength abroad, cut waste, fraud, abuse and align the Department with an American First Strategic Doctrine reflecting the priorities of the Executive Branch.” – Draft Executive Order
The transition to this new organizational structure must be accomplished by October 1. Current foreign service officers or civil service personnel would be allowed to opt-out of the new program entirely. If they plan to opt out, they need to announce their decision by September 30th.
Reactions to this draft executive order are occurring at breakneck speed. In the meantime, the White House has been dodging inquiries from journalists about what it means.
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