6

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Kiron K. SkinnerT

he U.S. Department of State’s mission is to bilaterally, multilaterally, andregionally implement the President’s foreign policy priorities; to serve U.S.
citizens abroad; and to advance the economic, foreign policy, and national
security interests of the United States.
Since the U.S. Founding, the Department of State has been the American government’s designated tool of engagement with foreign governments and peoples
throughout the world. Country names, borders, leaders, technology, and people
have changed in the more than two centuries since the Founding, but the basics of
diplomacy remain the same. Although the Department has also evolved throughout
the years, at least in the modern era, there is one significant problem that the next
President must address to be successful.
There are scores of fine diplomats who serve the President’s agenda, often
helping to shape and interpret that agenda. At the same time, however, in all
Administrations, there is a tug-of-war between Presidents and bureaucracies—
and that resistance is much starker under conservative Presidents, duelargely to the fact that large swaths of the State Department’s workforce areleft-wing and predisposed to disagree with a conservative President’s policy
agenda and vision.
It should not and cannot be this way: The American people need and deservea diplomatic machine fully focused on the national interest as defined throughthe election of a President who sets the domestic and international agenda forthe nation. The next Administration must take swift and decisive steps to reforge
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President and, thereby, the American people. Below is the basic but essential roadmap for achieving these repairs.
HISTORY AND CONTEXTFounded in 1789, the Department of State was one of the first Cabinet-levelagencies in the new American government. The first Secretary of State, Thomas
Jefferson, oversaw a small staff, diplomatic posts in London and Paris, and 10 consular posts.1 Today, the Department of State has almost 80,000 total employees(including 13,517 foreign service employees and 11,683 civil service employees) in
275 embassies, consulates, and other posts around the world.2
In theory, the State Department is the principal agency responsible for carryingout the President’s foreign policy and representing the United States in other nations
and international organizations. To the extent consistent with presidential policy andfederal law, the department also supports U.S. citizens and businesses in other nationsand vets foreign nationals seeking temporary or permanent entrance to the UnitedStates. The State Department also provides humanitarian, security, and other assistanceto non-U.S. populations in need, and otherwise advances and supports U.S. national
interests abroad. Properly led, the State Department can be instrumental for communicating and implementing a foreign policy vision that best serves American citizens.
As the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (the Hart–Rudman
Commission) observed more than 20 years ago, the State Department is a “crippled institution” suffering from “an ineffective organizational structure in which
regional and functional policies do not serve integrated goals, and in which soundmanagement, accountability, and leadership are lacking.”3 Unfortunately, thiscritique remains accurate.
The State Department’s failures are not due to a lack of resources. As one
expert has observed, the department “has significantly more at its disposal than
was the case at the end of the Cold War, in the mid-1990s, and at the height of the
Iraq and Afghanistan wars.”4 A major source, if not the major source, of the State
Department’s ineffectiveness lies in its institutional belief that it is an independent
institution that knows what is best for the United States, sets its own foreign policy,
and does not need direction from an elected President.
The next President can make the State Department more effective by providing
a clear foreign policy vision, selecting political officials and career diplomats thatwill enthusiastically turn that vision into a policy agenda, and firmly supporting
the State Department as it makes the necessary institutional adjustments.
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND BUREAUCRATICLEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT

Focusing the State Department on the needs and goals of the next President
will require the President’s handpicked political leadership—as well as foreign— 172 —

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service and civil service personnel who share the President’s vision and policy
agendas—to run the department. This can be done by taking these steps at theoutset of the next Administration.
Exert Leverage During the Confirmation Process. Notwithstanding thechallenges and slowness of the modern U.S. Senate confirmation process, the next
President can exert leverage on the Senate if he or she is willing to place State
Department appointees directly into those roles, pending confirmation. Doing sowould both ensure that the department has immediate senior political leadershipand would force the Senate to act on nominees’ appointments instead of being
allowed to engage in dilatory tactics that cripple the State Department’s functionality for weeks, months, or even years.
Assert Leadership in the Appointment Process. The next Administration
should assert leadership over, and guidance to, the State Department by placing
political appointees in positions that do not require Senate confirmation, including
senior advisors, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretaries, and Deputy Assistant Secretaries. Given the department’s size, the next Administration should also increase
the number of political appointees to manage it.
To the extent possible, all non-confirmed senior appointees should be selectedby the President-elect’s transition team or the new President’s Office of Presidential Personnel (depending on the timing of selection) and be in place the first dayof the Administration. No one in a leadership position on the morning of January
20 should hold that position at the end of the day. These recommendations do not
imply that foreign service and civil service officials should be excluded from key
roles: It is hard to imagine a scenario in which they are not immediately relevant to
the transition of power. The main suggestion here is that as many political appointees as possible should be in place at the start of a new Administration.
Support and Train Political Appointees. The Secretary of State should use
his or her office and its resources to ensure regular coordination among all political
appointees, which should take the form of strategy meetings, trainings, and otherevents. The secretary should also take reasonable steps to ensure that the State
Department’s political appointees are connected to other departments’ political
appointees, which is critical for cross-agency effectiveness and morale. The secretary should capitalize on the more experienced political appointees by using
them as the foundation for a mentorship program for less experienced political
appointees. The interaction of political appointees must be routine and operationalrather than incidental or occasional, and it must be treated as a crucial dimension
for the next Administration’s success.
Maximize the Value of Career Officials. Career foreign service and civil
service personnel can and must be leveraged for their expertise and commitment to the President’s mission. Indeed, the State Department has thousands of
employees with unparalleled linguistic, cultural, policy, and administrative skills,— 173 —

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and large numbers of them have been an enormous resource to the Secretaries ofState under which they have served. The secretary must find a way to make clear
to career officials that despite prior history and modes of operation, they neednot be adversaries of a conservative President, Secretary of State, or the team ofpolitical appointees.
Reboot Ambassadors Worldwide. All ambassadors are required to submit
letters of resignation at the start of a new Administration. Previous Republican
Administrations have accepted the resignations of only the political ambassadors
and allowed the foreign service ambassadors to retain their posts, sometimes formonths or years into a new Administration.5 The next Administration must go
further: It should both accept the resignations of all political ambassadors andquickly review and reassess all career ambassadors. This review should commencewell before the new Administration’s first day.
Ambassadors in countries where U.S. policy or posture would substantiallychange under the new Administration, as well as any who have evinced hostility
toward the incoming Administration or its agenda, should be recalled immediately.
The priority should be to put in place new ambassadors who support the President’s agenda among political appointees, foreign service officers, and civil service
personnel, with no predetermined percentage among these categories. Politicalambassadors with strong personal relationships with the President should be prioritized for key strategic posts such as Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, theUnited Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
RIGHTING THE SHIP

Ensuring the State Department is accountable for serving American citizens first will require—at a minimum—that the following steps be implemented
immediately:
Review Retroactively. Before inauguration, the President-elect’s department
transition team should assess every aspect of State Department negotiations andfunding commitments. Upon inauguration, the Secretary of State should order an
immediate freeze on all efforts to implement unratified treaties and international
agreements, allocation of resources, foreign assistance disbursements, domestic
and international contracts and payments, hiring and recruiting decisions, etc.,
pending a political appointee-driven review to ensure that such efforts comportwith the new Administration’s policies. The quality of this review is more important than speed. The posture of the department during this review should be an
unwavering desire to prioritize the American people—including a recognition thatthe federal government must be a diligent steward of taxpayer dollars.
Implement Repair. The State Department must change its handling ofinternational agreements to restore constitutional governance. Under prior
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numerous logistical challenges in negotiating, approving, and implementing treaties and agreements. This is particularly true under the Biden Administration. For
example, under the Biden Administration, the State Department was consideredsufficiently unreliable in terms of alignment and effectiveness such that its politicalleadership invoked its Circular 175 (C-175) authority to delegate its diplomatic
capacity to other agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security.
At time of publication, the State Department is negotiating (or seeking to negotiate) large-scale, sovereignty-eroding agreements that could come at considerable
economic and other costs to the American people. Although such agreements
should be evaluated and approved as are treaties, the Biden Administration is
likely to simply call them “agreements.” The Biden State Department not only
approves but also enforces treaties that have not been ratified by the U.S. Senate.
This practice must be thoroughly reviewed—and most likely jettisoned.
The next President should recalibrate how the State Department handles treaties and agreements, primarily by restoring constitutionality to these processes.
He or she should direct the Secretary of State to freeze any ongoing treaty or international agreement negotiations and assess whether those efforts align with the
new President’s foreign policy direction. The next Administration should also
direct the secretary to order an immediate stand-down on enforcement of any
treaties that have not been ratified by the Senate, and order a thorough review ofthe degree to which such enforcement has impacted the department’s functions,policies, and use of resources.
The Secretary of State, in cooperation with the Office of the Attorney Generaland the White House Counsel’s Office, should also conduct a review to identify“agreements” that are really treaty commitments within the ordinary public meaning of the Constitution,6 and suspend compliance pending presidential transmittalof those agreements to the Senate for advice and consent. The next Administration
should also move to withdraw from treaties that have been under Senate consideration for 20 years or more, with the understanding that those treaties are unlikely
to be ratified. Under circumstances in which ratification of a stale treaty before
the Senate still serves national interests, the treaty letter of transmittal and submission should be updated for current circumstances. The Secretary of State mustrevoke most outstanding C-175 authorities that have been granted to other agencies during previous Administrations, although such revocations should be closely
coordinated with the White House for logistical reasons.
Coordinate with Other Agencies. Interagency engagement in this newenvironment must be similarly adjusted to mirror presidential direction. Indeed,coordination among federal agencies is challenging even in the most well-oiled
Administrations. Although such coordination is inescapable and sometimes productive, agencies tend to leverage each other’s resources in ways that occasionally haveoff-mission consequences for the agency or agencies with the resources. Ideally, the— 175 —

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Secretary of State should work as part of an agile foreign policy team along with the
National Security Advisor, the Secretary of Defense, and other agency heads to flesh
out and advance the President’s foreign policy. Bureaucratic stovepipes of the pastshould be less important than commitment to, and achievement of, the President’s
foreign policy agenda. The State Department’s role in these interagency discussions
must reflect the President’s clear direction and disallow resources and tools to be
used in any way that detracts from the presidentially directed mission.
Coordinate with Congress. Congress has both the statutory and appropriations authority to impact the State Department’s operations and has a strong
interest in key aspects of American foreign policy. The department must therefore
take particular care in its interaction with Congress, since poor interactions with
Congress, regardless of intentions, could trigger congressional pushback or haveother negative impacts on the President’s agenda.
This will require particularly strong leadership of the Department of State’s
Bureau of Legislative Affairs. The Secretary of State and political leadership should
ensure full coordination with the White House regarding congressional engagement on any State Department responsibility. This may lead to, for example, thePresident authorizing the State Department to engage with Members of Congressand relevant committees on certain issues (including statutorily designated congressional consultations), but to remain “radio silent” on volatile or designatedissues on which the White House wants to be the primary or only voice. All such
authorized department engagements with Congress must be driven and handledby political appointees in conjunction with career officials who have the relevant
expertise and are willing to work in concert with the President’s political appointees on particularly sensitive matters.
Respond Vigorously to the Chinese Threat. The State Department recently
opened the Office of China Coordination, or “China House.” This office is intended
to bring together experts inside and outside the State Department to coordinate
U.S. government relations with China “and advance our vision for an open, inclusive international system.”7 Whether China House will streamline U.S. government
communication, consensus, and action on China policy—given the presence ofother agencies with strong competing or adverse interests—remains to be seen.
The unit is dependent on adequate and competent staff being assigned by otherbureaus within the State Department.
Nonetheless, the concept is one a Republican Administration should support
mutatis mutandis. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been “at war” with
the U.S. for decades. Now that this reality has been accepted throughout the government, the State Department must be prepared to lead the U.S. diplomatic effort
accordingly. The centralization of efforts in one place is critical to this end.
Review Immigration and Domestic Security Requirements. Arguably, thedepartment’s most noteworthy challenge on the global stage has been its handling— 176 —

2025 Presidential Transition Projectof immigration and domestic security issues, which are inextricably related. The
State Department’s apparent posture toward these two issues, which are of paramount importance to the American people, has historically been that they are oflesser importance than other issues and that they can be treated as concessions in
broader diplomatic engagements. In other instances in which access to the U.S. in
the form of immigrant (permanent) and nonimmigrant (temporary) visas could
potentially serve as diplomatic leverage, it is almost never used. To some degree,
the State Department and many of its personnel appear to view the U.S. immigration system less as a tool for strengthening the United States and more as a global
welfare program.
To ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of all Americans, this must change.
Below are several key areas in which the department’s formal and informal postures
must adjust to reflect the current immigration and domestic security environment:lllVisa reciprocity. The United States should strictly enforce the doctrineof reciprocity when issuing visas to all foreign nationals. For too long, theU.S. has provided virtually unfettered access to foreign nationals fromcountries that do not respond in kind—including countries that are actively
hostile to U.S. interests and nationals. Mandatory reciprocity will convey
the necessary reality that other countries do not have an unfettered rightto U.S. access and must reciprocally offer favorable visa-based access to U.S.
nationals. The State Department’s reaction time to other countries’ changes
in visa policies with respect to the U.S. must be streamlined to ensure it canbe updated in real time.
Section 243(d) visa sanctions. Visa sanctions under section 243(d) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),8 enacted into law to motivate
countries to accept the return of any nationals who have been orderedremoved from the U.S., should be quickly and fully enforced. Recalcitrant
countries that do not accept receipt of their returned nationals will risk thesuspension of issuance of all immigrant visas, all nonimmigrant visas, or
all visas. These country-specific sanctions should remain in place until the
sanctioned country accepts the return of all its removal-pending nationals
and formally commits to future, regular acceptance of its nationals. Blackletter implementation of this law will demonstrate a heretofore lacking
seriousness to the international community that other nations must respect
U.S. immigration laws and work with federal authorities to accept returning
nationals—or lose access to the United States.
Rightsizing refugee admissions. The Biden Administration has
engineered what is nothing short of a collapse of U.S. border security and— 177 —

Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promiseinterior immigration enforcement. This Administration’s humanitariancrisis—which is arguably the greatest humanitarian crisis in the modern
era, one which has harmed Americans and foreign nationals alike—will
take many years and billions of dollars to fully address. One casualty of the
Biden Administration’s behavior will be the current form of the U.S. Refugee
Admission Program (USRAP).
The federal government’s obligation to shift national security–essential
screening and vetting resources to the forged border crisis will necessitate
an indefinite curtailment of the number of USRAP refugee admissions. The
State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, whichadministers USRAP, must shift its resources to challenges stemming fromthe current immigration situation until the crisis can be contained andrefugee-focused screening and vetting capacity can reasonably be restored.
llStrengthening bilateral and multilateral immigration-focusedagreements. Restoration of both domestic security and the integrity of
the U.S. immigration system should start with rapid reactivation of several
key initiatives in effect at the conclusion of the Trump Administration.
Reimplementation of the Remain in Mexico policy, safe third-country
agreements, and other measures to address the influx of non-Mexican
asylum applicants at the United States–Mexico border must be Day
One priorities. Although the State Department must rein in the C-175
authorities of other agencies, the Department of Homeland Security should
retain (or regain) C-175 authorities for negotiating bilateral and multilateral
security agreements.
Evaluation of national security–vulnerable visa programs. To protect
the American people, the State Department, in coordination with the WhiteHouse and other security-focused agencies, should evaluate several key
security-sensitive visa programs that it manages. Key programs include, butshould not be limited to, the Diversity Visa program, the F (student) visa
program, and J (exchange visitor) visa program. The State Department’s
evaluation must ensure that these programs are not only consistent withWhite House immigration policy, but also align with its national security
obligations and resource limitations.

PIVOTING ABROAD

Personnel and management adjustments are crucial preludes to refocus theState Department’s mission, which is implementing the President’s foreign policy
agenda and, in so doing, ensuring that the interests of American citizens are given— 178 —

2025 Presidential Transition Projectpriority. That said, the next President must significantly reorient the U.S. government’s posture toward friends and adversaries alike—which will include much
more honest assessments about who are friends and who are not. This reorientation could represent the most significant shift in core foreign policy principles
and corresponding action since the end of the Cold War.
Although not every country or issue area can be discussed in this chapter, below
are examples of several areas in which a shift in U. S. foreign policy is not only important, but arguably existential. The point is not to assert that everyone in the evolving
conservative movement, or, in some cases, the growing bipartisan consensus, willagree with the details of this assessment. Rather, what is presented below demonstrates the urgency of these issues and provides a general roadmap for analysis.
In a world on fire, a handful of nations require heightened attention. Some represent existential threats to the safety and security of the American people; others
threaten to hurt the U.S. economy; and others are wild cards, whose full threat
scope is unknown but nevertheless unsettling. The five countries on which the next
Administration should focus its attention and energy are China, Iran, Venezuela,
Russia, and North Korea.
The People’s Republic of China

The designs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party, which runs the PRC, are serious and dangerous.9 This tyrannicalcountry with a population of more than 1 billion people has the vision, resources,
and patience to achieve its objectives. Protecting the United States from the PRC’s
designs requires an unambiguous offensive-defensive mix, including protecting
American citizens and their interests, as well as U.S. allies, from PRC attacks andabuse that undermine U.S. competitiveness, security, and prosperity.
The United States must have a cost-imposing strategic response to make Beijing’s aggression unaffordable, even as the American economy and U.S. power grow.
This stance will require real, sustained, near-unprecedented U.S. growth; stronger
partnerships; synchronized economic and security policies; and American energy
independence—but above all, it will require a very honest perspective about thenature and designs of the PRC as more of a threat than a competitor.10 The next
President should use the State Department and its array of resources to reassess
and lead this effort, just as it did during the Cold War. The U.S. government needs
an Article X for China,11 and it should be a presidential mandate. Along with the
National Security Council, the State Department should draft an Article X, whichshould be a deeply philosophical look at the China challenge.
Many foreign policy professionals and national leaders, both in government andthe private sector, are reluctant to take decisive action regarding China. Many are
vested in an unshakable faith in the international system and global norms. They
are so enamored with them they cannot brook any criticisms or reforms, let alone— 179 —

Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promiseacknowledge their potential for being abused by the PRC. Others refuse to acknowledge Beijing’s malign activities and often pass off criticism as conspiracy theories.
For instance, many were quick to dismiss even the possibility that COVID-19
escaped from a Chinese research laboratory. The reality, however, is that the PRC’s
actions often do sound like conspiracy theories—because they are conspiracies. In
addition, some knowingly or not parrot the Communist line: Global leaders including President Joe Biden, have tried to normalize or even laud Chinese behavior.
In some cases, these voices, like the global corporate giants BlackRock and Disney,
directly benefit from doing business with Beijing.
On the other hand, others acknowledge the dangers posed by the PRC, but
believe in a moderating approach to accommodate its rise, a policy of “compete
where we must, but cooperate where we can,” including on issues like climatechange. This strategy has demonstrably failed.
As with all global struggles with Communist and other tyrannical regimes, theissue should never be with the Chinese people but with the Communist dictatorship that oppresses them and threatens the well-being of nations across the globe.12
That said, the nature of Chinese power today is the product of history, ideology,
and the institutions that have governed China during the course of five millennia,
inherited by the present Chinese leaders from the preceding generations of the
CCP.13 In short, the PRC challenge is rooted in China’s strategic culture and notjust the Marxism–Leninism of the CCP, meaning that internal culture and civilsociety will never deliver a more normative nation. The PRC’s aggressive behavior
can only be curbed through external pressure.
The Islamic Republic of Iran

The ongoing protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran), which are widely
viewed as a new revolution, have shown that the Islamic regime, which has beenin power since 1979 when Ayatollah Khomeini became the leader, is at its weakest
state in its history and is at odds not only with its own people but also its regional
neighbors. Iran is home to a proud and ancient culture, yet its people have struggled to achieve democracy and have had to endure a hostile theocratic regime thatvehemently opposes freedom. The time may be right to press harder on the Iranian
theocracy, support the Iranian people, and take other steps to draw Iran into thecommunity of free and modern nations.
Unfortunately, the Obama and Biden Administrations have propped up thebrutal Islamist theocracy that has hurt the Iranian people and threatened nuclear
war. For example, the Obama Administration’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action, commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, gave the Islamic regime acrucial monetary lifeline after the Green Movement protests in 2009, which, while
ultimately unsuccessful, did succeed in weakening the regime and showing theworld that younger Iranians want freedom.

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Instead of pressuring the Iranian theocracy to move toward democracy, theObama Administration threw the brutal regime an economic lifeline by giving
hundreds of billions of dollars to the Iranian government and providing other sanctions relief. This economic relief did not moderate the regime, but emboldened its
brutality, its efforts to expand its nuclear weapons programs, and its support for
global terrorism. Former President Obama has admitted his lack of support for theGreen Movement during his Administration was an error and blamed it on pooradvisors—yet those same advisors are involved with the Biden Administration’s
insistence on reducing pressure on the theocracy and resurrecting a nuclear deal.
The next Administration should neither preserve nor repeat the mistakes of
the Obama and Biden Administrations. The correct future policy for Iran is one
that acknowledges that it is in U.S. national security interests, the Iranian people’s
human rights interests, and a broader global interest in peace and stability for the
Iranian people to have the democratic government they demand. This decision
to be free of the country’s abusive leaders must of course be made by the Iranianpeople, but the United States can utilize its own and others’ economic and diplomatic tools to ease the path toward a free Iran and a renewed relationship with
the Iranian people.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Once a model of democracy and a true U.S. ally, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Venezuela) has all but collapsed under the Communist regimes of the late
Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. In the 24 years since Hugo Chavez was firstelected Venezuelan president in 1999, the country has violently cracked down on
pro-democracy citizens and organizations, shattered its once oil-rich economy,
empowered domestic criminal cartels, and helped fuel a hemispheric refugee crisis.
Venezuela has swung from being one of the most prosperous, if not the mostprosperous, country in South America to being one of the poorest. Its Communist
leadership has also drawn closer to some of the United States’ greatest international foes, including the PRC and Iran, which have long sought a foothold in theAmericas. Indeed, Venezuela serves as a reminder of just how fragile democratic
institutions that are not maintained can be. To contain Venezuela’s Communism
and aid international partners, the next Administration must take important steps
to put Venezuela’s Communist abusers on notice while making strides to help the
Venezuelan people. The next Administration must work to unite the hemisphereagainst this significant but underestimated threat in the Southern Hemisphere.
RussiaOne issue today that starkly divides conservatives is the Russia–Ukraine conflict. The common ground seems to be recognition that presidential leadershipin 2025 must chart the course.

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l

l

l

One school of conservative thought holds that as Moscow’s illegal war of
aggression against Ukraine drags on, Russia presents major challenges to
U.S. interests, as well as to peace, stability, and the post-Cold War security
order in Europe. This viewpoint argues for continued U.S. involvement
including military aid, economic aid, and the presence of NATO and U.S.
troops if necessary. The end goal of the conflict must be the defeat of
Russian President Vladimir Putin and a return to pre-invasion border lines.
Another school of conservative thought denies that U.S. Ukrainian support
is in the national security interest of America at all. Ukraine is not a memberof the NATO alliance and is one of the most corrupt nations in the region.
European nations directly affected by the conflict should aid in the defenseof Ukraine, but the U.S. should not continue its involvement. This viewpoint
desires a swift end to the conflict through a negotiated settlement between
Ukraine and Russia.
The tension between these competing positions has given rise to a third
approach. This conservative viewpoint eschews both isolationism andinterventionism. Rather, each foreign policy decision must first ask thequestion: What is in the interest of the American people? U.S. military
engagement must clearly fall within U.S. interests; be fiscally responsible;
and protect American freedom, liberty, and sovereignty, all while recognizing
Communist China as the greatest threat to U.S. interests. Thus, with respect to
Ukraine, continued U.S. involvement must be fully paid for; limited to militaryaid (while European allies address Ukraine’s economic needs); and have aclearly defined national security strategy that does not risk American lives.

Regardless of viewpoints, all sides agree that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
is unjust and that the Ukrainian people have a right to defend their homeland.
Furthermore, the conflict has severely weakened Putin’s military strength andprovided a boost to NATO unity and its importance to European nations.
The next conservative President has a generational opportunity to bring resolution to the foreign policy tensions within the movement and chart a new pathforward that recognizes Communist China as the defining threat to U.S. interestsin the 21st century.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Peace and stability in Northeast Asia are vital interests of the United States. The
Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Japan are critical allies for ensuring a free
and open Indo–Pacific. They are indispensable military, economic, diplomatic, andtechnology partners. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North— 182 —

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Korea) must be deterred from military conflict. The United States cannot permit
the DPRK to remain a de facto nuclear power with the capacity to threaten the
United States or its allies. This interest is both critical to the defense of the American homeland and the future of global nonproliferation. The DPRK must not be
permitted to profit from its blatant violations of international commitments or tothreaten other nations with nuclear blackmail. Both interests can only be served
if the U.S. disallows the DPRK’s rogue regime behavior.
OTHER INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS
Western Hemisphere

The United States has a vested interest in a relatively united and economicallyprosperous Western Hemisphere. Nonetheless, the region now has an overwhelming number of socialist or progressive regimes, which are at odds with the freedom
and growth-oriented policies of the U.S. and other neighbors and who increasingly
pose hemispheric security threats. A new approach is therefore needed, one thatsimultaneously allows the U.S. to re-posture in its best interests and helps regional
partners enter a new century of growth and opportunity.
The following core policies must be part of this new direction:ll

A “sovereign Mexico” policy. Mexico is currently a national security
disaster. Bluntly stated, Mexico can no longer qualify as a first-world nation;it has functionally lost its sovereignty to muscular criminal cartels that
effectively run the country. The current dynamic is not good for either
U.S. citizens or Mexicans, and the perfect storm created by this cartel state
has negative effects that are damaging the entire hemisphere. The next
Administration must both adopt a posture that calls for a fully sovereign
Mexico and take all steps at its disposal to support that result in as rapid afashion as possible.
A fentanyl-free frontier. The same cartels that parasitically run Mexico
are also working with the PRC to fuel the largest drug crisis in the historyof North America. These Mexican cartels are working closely with Chinese
fentanyl precursor chemical manufacturers, importing those precursor
chemicals into Mexico, manufacturing fentanyl on Mexican soil, andshipping it into the United States and elsewhere. The highly potent narcotic
is having an unprecedented lethal impact on the American citizenry. The
next Administration must leverage its new insistence on a sovereign Mexico
and work with other Western Hemisphere partners to halt the fentanyl
crisis and put a decisive end to this unprecedented public health threat.

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Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative PromiselA hemisphere-centered approach to industry and energy. The
next Administration has a golden opportunity to make key economicchanges that will not only provide tremendous economic opportunities
for Americans but will also serve as an economic boon to the entire
Western Hemisphere.
First, the United States must do everything possible, with both resources
and messaging, to shift global manufacturing and industry from moredistant points around the globe (especially from the increasingly hostileand human rights-abusing PRC) to Central and South American countries.
“Re-hemisphering” manufacturing and industry closer to home will not only
eliminate some of the more recent supply-chain issues that damaged the U.S.
economy but will also represent a significant economic improvement forparts of the Americas in need of growth and stabilization.
Similarly, the United States must work with Mexico, Canada, and othercountries to develop a hemisphere-focused energy policy that will reducereliance on distant and manipulable sources of fossil fuels, restore the freeflow of energy among the hemisphere’s largest producers, and work together
to increase energy production, including for nations that are looking fordramatic economic expansion.

l

A “local” approach to security threats. Western Hemisphere nations,
including those in the Caribbean, arguably have stronger cultural andhistorical ties to the United States than most other countries and regionsin the world. Yet Central and South America are moving rapidly into thesphere of anti-American, external state actors, including the PRC, Iran, andRussia. Specific countries in the Americas, such as Venezuela, Colombia,
Guyana, and Ecuador, are either increasingly regional security threatsin their own rights or are vulnerable to hostile extra-continental powers.
The U.S. has an opportunity to lead these democratic neighbors to fightagainst the external pressure of threats from abroad and address local
regional security concerns. This leadership and collaboration must span all
tools at the disposal of U.S. allies and partners, including security-focusedcooperation.

Middle East and North Africa

The next Administration must re-engage with Middle Eastern and North African nations and not abandon the region. Without U.S. leadership, the region may
tumble further into chaos or fall prey to American adversaries. This recommendation requires a multi-dimensional strategy.

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l

l

l

l

First, the U.S. must prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear technology anddelivery capabilities and more broadly block Iranian ambitions. This means,inter alia, reinstituting and expanding Trump Administration sanctions;providing security assistance for regional partners; supporting, throughpublic diplomacy and otherwise, freedom-seeking Iranian people intheir revolt against the mullahs; and ensuring Israel has both the militarymeans and the political support and flexibility to take what it deems to beappropriate measures to defend itself against the Iranian regime and its
regional proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Second, the next Administration should build on the Trump
Administration’s diplomatic successes by encouraging other Arab states,
including Saudi Arabia, to enter the Abraham Accords. Related policies
should include reversing, as appropriate, the Biden Administration’s
degradation of the long-standing partnership with Saudi Arabia. The
Palestinian Authority should be defunded. A further key priority is keeping
Türkiye in the Western fold and a NATO ally. This includes a vigorous
outreach to Türkiye to dissuade it from “hedging” toward Russia or China,
which is likely to require a rethinking of U.S. support for YPG/PKK [People’s
Protection Units/Kurdistan Worker’s Party] Kurdish forces, which Ankara
believes are an existential threat to its security. For the foreseeable future—and much longer than one new Administration—Middle Eastern oil willplay a key role in the world economy. Therefore, the U.S. must continue
to support its allies and compete with its economic adversaries, including
China. Relations with Saudi Arabia should be strengthened in a way that
seriously curtails Chinese influence in Riyadh.
Third, it is in the U.S. national interest to build a Middle East security
pact that includes Israel, Egypt, the Gulf states, and potentially India, as asecond “Quad” arrangement. Protecting freedom of navigation in the Gulf
and in the Red Sea/Suez Canal is vital to the world economy and therefore
to U.S. prosperity as well. In North Africa, security cooperation with
European allies, especially France, will be vital to limit growing Islamist
threats and the incursion of Russian influence through positionings of the
Wagner Group.
The U.S. cannot neglect a concern for human rights and minority rights,
which must be balanced with strategic and security considerations. Special
attention must be paid to challenges of religious freedom, especially thestatus of Middle Eastern Christians and other religious minorities, as well as
the human trafficking endemic to the region.

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Sub-Saharan Africa

Africa’s importance to U.S. foreign policy and strategic interests is rising andwill only continue to grow. Its explosive population growth, large reserves ofindustry-dependent minerals, proximity to key maritime shipping routes, and its
collective diplomatic power ensure the continent’s global importance. Yet as Africa’s strategic significance has grown, the U.S.’s relative influence there has declined.
Terrorist activity on the continent has increased, while America’s competitors aremaking significant gains for their own national interests. The PRC’s companies
dominate the African supply chain for certain minerals critical to emerging technologies. African nations comprise major country-bloc elements that shield the
PRC and Russia from international isolation for their human rights abuses—andAfrican nations staunchly support PRC foreign policy goals on issues such as Hong
Kong occupation, South China Seas dispute arbitration, and Taiwan.
The new Administration can correct this strategic failing of existing policy byprioritizing Africa and by undertaking fundamental changes in how the UnitedStates works with African nations.
At a bare minimum, the next Administration should:lll

Shift strategic focus from assistance to growth. Reorient the focus of
U.S. overseas development assistance away from stand-alone humanitariandevelopment aid and toward fostering free market systems in Africancountries by incentivizing and facilitating U.S. private sector engagementin these countries. Development aid alone does little to develop countries
and can fuel corruption and violent conflict. While the United States should
always be willing to offer emergency and humanitarian relief, both U.S. andAfrican long-term interests are better served by a free market-based, private
growth-focused strategy to Africa’s economic challenges.
Counter malign Chinese activity on the continent. This should include
the development of powerful public diplomacy efforts to counter Chinese
influence campaigns with commitments to freedom of speech and the freeflow of information; the creation of a template “digital hygiene” programthat African countries can access to sanitize and protect their sensitive
communications networks from espionage by the PRC and other hostileactors; the recognition of Somaliland statehood as a hedge against the U.S.’sdeteriorating position in Djibouti; and a focus on supporting Americancompanies involved in industries important to U.S. national interests or thathave a competitive advantage in Africa.
Counter the furtherance of terrorism. African country-based terroristgroups like Boko Haram may currently lack the capability to attack the— 186 —

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United States, but at least some of them would eventually try if allowed toconsolidate their operations and plan such attacks. The immediate threat
they pose lies in their abilities and willingness to strike American targets intheir regions of operation or to harm U.S. interests in other ways. The U.S.
should support capable African military and security operations throughthe State Department and other federal agencies responsible for granting
foreign military education, training, and security assistance.
ll

Build a coalition of the cooperative. Rather than thinning limited federal
resources by spreading funds across all countries (including some that areunsupportive or even hostile to the United States,) the next Administration
should focus on those countries with which the U.S. can expect a mutually
beneficial relationship. After being designated focus countries by theState Department, such nations should receive a full suite of American
engagement. That said, the next Administration should still maintain abaseline level of contact even with those countries with which it has lessthan-fruitful relationships in order to encourage positive developments andto be in position to seize unexpected diplomatic opportunities as they arise.
Focus on core diplomatic activities, and stop promoting policies
birthed in the American culture wars. African nations are particularly(and reasonably) non-receptive to the U.S. social policies such as abortionand pro-LGBT initiatives being imposed on them. The United States should
focus on core security, economic, and human rights engagement with
African partners and reject the promotion of divisive policies that hurt the
deepening of shared goals between the U.S. and its African partners.

EuropeAmerican foreign policy has long benefited from cooperation with the countriesof Europe (generally, the EU), and any conservative Administration should buildon this resource. Yet the transatlantic relationship is complex, with security, trade,and political dimensions.
First, the Europe, Eurasia, and Russia region is made up of relatively wealthy
and technologically advanced societies that should be expected to bear a fair shareof both security needs and global security architecture: The United States cannot
be expected to provide a defense umbrella for countries unwilling to contribute
appropriately. At stake after 2024 will be examining the status of the Wales Pledgeof 2 percent of gross domestic product toward defense by NATO members. The
new Administration will also want to encourage nations to exceed that pledge.
Second, transatlantic trade is a significant part of the global economy, and it isin the U.S. national interest to amplify it, especially because this means weaning— 187 —

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Europe of its dependence on China. However, there are also transatlantic tradetensions that disturb the U.S.–EU relationship and that have been evident acrossAdministrations. The U.S. must undertake a comprehensive review of tradearrangements between the EU and the United States to assure that U.S. businesses
are treated fairly and to build productive reciprocity. Outside the EU, trade withthe post-Brexit U.K. needs urgent development before London slips back into theorbit of the EU.
Third, in the wake of Brexit, EU foreign policy now takes place without U.K.
input, which disadvantages the United States, given that the U.K. has historically
been aligned with many U.S. positions. Therefore, U.S. diplomacy must be more
attentive to inner-EU developments, while also developing new allies inside theEU—especially the Central European countries on the eastern flank of the EU,
which are most vulnerable to Russian aggression.
South and Central Asia

Many key American interests and responsibilities are found in South andCentral Asia. Specifically, continuing to advance the bilateral relationship with
India to mutual benefit is a crucial objective for U.S. policy. India plays a crucialrole in countering the Chinese threat and securing a free and open Indo–Pacific.
It is a critical security guarantor for the key routes of air and sea travel linking
East and West and an important emerging U.S. economic partner. For instance,the 2019 Department of Defense Indo–Pacific Strategy Report noted that the
Indian Ocean area “is at the nexus of global trade and commerce, with nearly
half of the world’s 90,000 commercial vessels and two thirds of global oil trade
traveling through its sea lanes. The region boasts some of the fastest-growing
economies on Earth.”14
Meanwhile, the threat of transnational terrorism remains acute. The humiliating withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after a 20-year military campaign
has created new challenges. It has provided an opportunity to reset the deeply
troubled U.S.–Pakistan relationship and reassess U.S. counterterrorism strategy
in the region. The long-standing India–Pakistan rivalry and tensions regarding the
disputed territory of Kashmir continue to pose risks to regional stability, especiallybecause both countries are nuclear powers.
The State Department’s role in strengthening the regional security and economic framework linking the U.S and India is crucial. In addition, the department
has important functional responsibilities in dealing with a range of threats from
nuclear proliferation to transnational proliferation. While American statecraft
should also seek to improve bilateral relations throughout the region, U.S. policy
must be clear-eyed and realistic about the perfidiousness of the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan and the military–political rule in Pakistan. There can be no expectation of normal relations with either.

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The priority for statecraft is advancing the U.S.–Indian role as a cornerstoneof the Quad, a cooperative framework including the U.S., India, Japan, and Australia. The Quad is comprised of the key nations in coordinating efforts for a free
and open Indo–Pacific. It is an overarching group that nests the key U.S. bilateraland trilateral cooperative efforts that facilitate U.S. collaborative efforts acrossthe Indo–Pacific. The State Department should also encourage the “Quad-Plus”
concept that allows other regional powers to participate in Quad coordination on
issues of mutual interest. Further, the State Department must support an integrated federal effort to deliver a revamped regional strategy for South Asia, as wellas leading the execution of key tasks to implement the strategy.15
The Arctic

Because of Alaska, the U.S. is an Arctic nation. The Arctic is a vast expanse ofland and sea rich in resources including fish, minerals, and energy. For example,
the region is estimated to contain 90 million barrels of oil and one-quarter of theworld’s undiscovered natural gas reserves.16 The Arctic is lightly populated: Only
4 million people in the world live above the Arctic Circle, with more than half of
those living in Russia. Only around 68,000 people in Alaska live above the Arctic
Circle.17 However, the sheer immensity of the Alaskan Arctic means its population
density is less than one person per square mile.18
The United States has several strong interests in the Arctic region. The rate ofmelting ice during summer months has led to increased interest not only fromshipping and tourism sectors, but also from America’s global competitors, who
are interested in exploiting the region’s strategic importance and accessing its
bounty of natural resources.
In the not-too-distant future, there will be a growing interest in the Arctic fromboth state and non-state actors alike. China has been open about its interest in
the region, primarily as a highway for trade but also for its rich natural resources.
While the PRC’s increasing intervention in Arctic affairs is a bit strained because
it does not have an Arctic coastline, Russia does—and Russia has made no secretof its view that the Arctic is vital for economic and military reasons. Russia hasinvested heavily in new and refurbished Arctic bases and cold-weather equipment
and capabilities. The north star of U.S. Arctic policy should remain national sovereignty, safeguarded through robust capabilities as well as through diplomatic,
economic, and legal attentiveness.
The next Administration should embrace the view that NATO must acknowledge that it is, in part, an Arctic alliance. With the likely accession of Finland andSweden to NATO, every Arctic nation except for Russia will be a NATO member
state. NATO has been slow to appreciate that the Arctic is a theater that it must
defend, especially considering Russia’s brazen aggression against Ukraine. NATOmust develop and implement an Arctic strategy that recognizes the importance of— 189 —

Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise

the region and ensures that Russian use of Arctic waters and resources does notexceed a reasonable footprint.
The U.S. should unapologetically pursue American interests in the Arctic bypromoting economic freedom in the region. Economic freedom spurs prosperity,
innovation, respect for the rule of law, jobs, and sustainability. Most important,economic freedom can help to keep the Arctic stable and secure.
The U.S. should work to ensure that shipping lanes in the Arctic remain available to all global commercial traffic and free of onerous fees and burdensome
administrative, regulatory, and military requirements. While this should be thenext Administration’s policy with respect to all countries that might seek to block
free-flowing commercial traffic, the next Administration will clearly have to exert
substantial attention toward Russia.
Both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy are vital tools to ensure an unmonopolized Arctic. It is imperative that the Navy and Coast Guard continue toexpand their fleets, including planned icebreaker acquisitions, to assure Arctic
access for the United States and other friendly actors. The remote and harsh conditions of the Arctic also make unmanned system investment and use particularly
appealing for providing additional situational awareness, intelligence, surveillance,and reconnaissance. The Coast Guard should also consider upgrading facilities,
such as its Barrow station, to reinforce its Arctic capabilities and demonstrate agreater commitment to the region.
The People’s Republic of China has declared itself a “near-Arctic state,” which
is an imaginary term non-existent in international discourse. The United Statesshould work with like-minded Arctic nations, including Russia, to raise legitimate
concerns about the PRC’s so-called Polar Silk-Road ambitions.
Concerning Greenland, the opening of a U.S. consulate in Nuuk is welcome. A
formal year-round diplomatic presence is an effective way for the U.S. to better
understand local political and economic dynamics. Furthermore, given Greenland’s geographic proximity and its rising potential as a commercial and tourist
location, the next Administration should pursue policies that enhance economic
ties between the U.S. and Greenland.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONSDefending and protecting the American people and advancing their interests
requires the United States to engage in a broad spectrum of bilateral and multilateralrelationships, including participating in international organizations. Working withother governments through international organizations like the United Nations(U.N.) can be tremendously useful—but membership in these organizations must
always be understood as a means to attain defined goals rather than an end in itself.
Engagement with international organizations is one relatively easy way for the
U.S. to defend its interests and to seek to address problems in concert with other— 190 —

2025 Presidential Transition Projectnations, but it is not the only option—and American diplomats should be cleareyed about international organizations’ strengths and weaknesses. When suchinstitutions act against U.S. interests, the United States must be prepared to takeappropriate steps in response, up to and including withdrawal. The manifest failureand corruption of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19
pandemic is an example of the danger that international organizations pose to U.S.
citizens and interests.
The next Administration must end blind support for international organizations. If an international organization is effective and advances Americaninterests, the United States should support it. If an international organization
is ineffective or does not support American interests, the United States should
not support it. Those that are effective will still require constant pressure from
U.S. officials to ensure that they remain effective. Serious consideration should
also be given to withdrawal from organizations that no longer have value, quietly
undermine U.S. interests or goals, or disproportionately rely on U.S. financial contributions to survive.
The Trump Administration’s “tough love” approach to international organizations served American interests. For example, the Trump Administration withdrew
from, or terminated funding for, the United Nations Human Rights Council, theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency, and the WHO. The results were redeploymentof taxpayer dollars to better uses—and other organizations “getting the message”
that the United States will not allow itself and its money to be used to undermine
its own interests.
The Biden Administration reversed many of these decisions. Currently, U.S.
funding for international organizations is more than $16 billion in fiscal year
2021—a sharp increase from $10.8 billion in fiscal year 2015.19 Millions of American
taxpayer dollars go to support policies and initiatives that hurt the United Statesand American citizens.
The next Administration should direct the Secretary of State to initiate acomprehensive cost-benefit analysis of U.S. participation in all internationalorganizations. This review should take into account long-standing provisions infederal law that prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to promote abortion, population control, and terrorist activities, as well as other applicable restrictions on
funding for international organizations and agencies with a view to withholding
U.S. funds in cases of abuses.
International organizations should not be used to promote radical social policies as if they were human rights priorities. Doing so undermines actual humanrights and weakens U.S. credibility abroad. The next Administration should use
its voice, influence, votes, and funding in international organizations to promote authentic human rights and respect for sovereignty based on the binding— 191 —

Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promiseinternational obligations contained in treaties that have been constitutionallyratified by the U.S. government. It must promote a strict text-based interpretation of treaty obligations that does not consider human rights treaties as “living
instruments” both within the State Department and within international organizations that receive U.S. funding, including by making respect for sovereignty andauthentic human rights a litmus test of personnel decisions and elections processes
within international organizations.
The U.S. Commission on Unalienable Human Rights focused on the primacyof civil and political rights in its inaugural report, which remains an important
guidepost for bilateral and multilateral engagements on human rights. The commission’s report is a roadmap for revamping and reenergizing U.S. human rights
policy and should be the basis for both structural and policy changes throughout
the State Department.20 All U.S. multilateral engagements must be reevaluatedin light of the work of the commission, and initiatives that promote controversial
policies must be halted and rolled back.
It is paramount to create a healthy culture of respect for life, the family, sovereignty, and authentic human rights in international organizations and agencies. To
support this goal, the U.S. led an effort during the Trump Administration to forge aconsensus among like-minded countries in support of human life, women’s health,support of the family as the basic unit of human society, and defense of nationalsovereignty. The result was the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Women’s Healthand Protection of the Family.21 All U.S. foreign policy engagements that were produced and expanded under the Obama and Biden Administrations must be alignedwith the Geneva Consensus Declaration and the work of the U.S. Commission on
Unalienable Human Rights.
The U.S. government should not and cannot promote or fund abortion in international programs or multilateral organizations. Technically, the United States canprevent its international funding from going toward abortions, but the U.S. will
have a greater impact by including like-minded nations and building on the coalition launched through the Geneva Consensus Declaration, with a view to shaping
the work of international agencies by functioning as a united front.
The COVID-19 pandemic made it painfully clear that both international organizations—and some countries—are only too willing to trample human rights in thename of public health. For example, the WHO was, and remains, willing to support
the suppression of basic human rights, partially because of its close relationshipwith human rights abusers like the PRC.
The next Administration should unequivocally embrace the premise thathumanity and the international community can simultaneously tackle pandemics and other emergent health threats without impeding the rights of people. It
must also become a vocal surrogate for people in countries where rights are being
suppressed in the name of health. This will likely require greater restrictions on— 192 —

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the supply of federal dollars to the WHO and other health-focused internationalorganizations pending adjustment of their policies.
The United States must return to treating international organizations as vehicles for promoting American interests—or take steps to extract itself from thoseorganizations.
SHAPING THE FUTURE

Development of a grand foreign policy strategy is key to the next Administration’s success, but without addressing structural and related issues of the State
Department, this strategy will be at risk. The Hart–Rudman Commission called fora significant restructuring of the State Department specifically and foreign assistance programs generally, stating that funding increases could only be justified if
there was greater confidence that institutions would use their funding effectively.22
Sadly, the exact opposite has occurred. The State Department has metastasized instructure and resources, but neither the function of the department nor the use of
taxpayer dollars has improved. The next Administration can take steps to remedy
these deficiencies.
The State Department’s greatest problem is certainly not an absence ofresources. As noted, the department boasts tens of thousands of employees andbillions of dollars of funding—including significant amounts of discretionary funding. It also exists among a broader array of federal agencies that are duplicative,
particularly when it comes to the provision of direct and indirect foreign assistance.
Realistically, meaningful reform of the State Department will require significant
streamlining.
Below are some key structural and operational recommendations that will beessential for the next Administration’s success, and which will lay crucial foundations for other necessary reforms.
lDevelop a reorganization strategy. Despite periodic attempts by
previous Administrations (including the Trump Administration) to makemore than cosmetic changes to the State Department, its structure hasremained largely unchanged since the 20th century.23 The State Department
will better serve future Administrations, regardless of party, if it were to
be meaningfully streamlined. The next Administration should develop
a complete hypothetical reorganization of the department—one which
would tighten accountability to political leadership, reduce overhead,eliminate redundancy, waste fewer taxpayer resources, and recommend
additional personnel-related changes for improvement of function.
Such reorganization could be creative, but also carefully review specificstructure-related problems that have been documented over the years.
This reorganization effort would necessarily assess what office closures— 193 —

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can be carried out with and without congressional approval. Timelines foraction on these fronts should be developed accordingly, but speed should
be a priority.
lConsolidate foreign assistance authorities. Foreign assistance is a
critical foreign policy tool that is too often disconnected from the federal
government’s practice of foreign policy. Bureaucrats spend significant
energy resisting the use of non-emergency foreign assistance to leverage
positive results for the United States, even though it is a perfectly
reasonable proposition. The coordination of foreign assistance dollars is
also difficult because the foreign assistance budget and foreign loan issuanceauthorities are divided across numerous Cabinet departments, smaller
agencies, and other offices.
The next Administration should take steps to ensure that future foreignassistance clearly and unambiguously supports the President’s foreign
policy agenda. For example, the next administrator of the U.S. Agency
for International Development, which is technically subordinate to theState Department, should be authorized to take on the additional roleof Director of Foreign Assistance with the rank of Deputy Secretary andoversee all foreign assistance. This role—which existed briefly during
the George W. Bush Administration before it was eliminated by the
Obama Administration—would empower the dual-hatted official to betteralign and coordinate with the manifold foreign assistance programs
across the federal government. The next Administration should also
evaluate whether these multiple sources of foreign assistance are in
the national interest and, if not, develop a plan to consolidate foreignassistance authorities.

l

Make public diplomacy and international broadcasting serve
American interests. A key part of U.S. foreign policy is the ability tocommunicate with not only governments but with the peoples of the world.
Indeed, in some ways, communicating directly with the public is more
important than communicating with governments, particularly in times ofgovernmental conflict or disagreement. Public diplomacy has historicallybeen, and remains, vital to American foreign policy success. Unfortunately,
U.S. public diplomacy, which largely relies on taxpayer-funded international
broadcasting outlets, has been deeply ineffective in recent years.
The U.S. government’s first foray into international broadcasting started
with the Voice of America radio broadcast in 1942, which was intended as— 194 —

2025 Presidential Transition Projecta tool to communicate directly with the people of Europe during WorldWar II. During the next half-century, America’s international broadcasting
efforts both expanded and increased in sophistication as the United States
shifted out of its “hot” war in Europe and into the Cold War with theSoviet Union. U.S. international broadcasting prowess, and the confident
willingness to communicate the correctness of American ideals in the faceof global resistance, arguably hit its peak near the conclusion of the Cold
War in the late 1980s.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapseof Soviet and Eastern Bloc Communism, factors including the false
appeal of a so-called peace dividend triggered a slide in the U.S. ability tocommunicate a pro-freedom message to the rest of the world and in its
commitment to do so. Ironically, this slide accompanied the rise of theInternet and mobile phone technologies, which arguably facilitated themost significant revolution in human communication since the invention of
the printing press.
The United States must reassert its public diplomacy obligations byrestoring its international broadcasting infrastructure as part of the broader
U.S. foreign policy framework, consolidating broadcasting resources andrecommitting to people-focused and pro-freedom messaging and content.
lEngage in cyber diplomacy. Cyberspace has become an arena forcompetition between the U.S. and nations that seek and export digital
authoritarianism. Cyberspace protection is critical to national security anddeserving of commensurate diplomatic resources. Defined as “the use of
diplomatic tools to address issues arising in and through cyberspace,” cyber
diplomacy is a key part of the U.S. government’s toolkit for preventing andaddressing cyber threats.24
The model for cyberspace that the U.S. espouses is based on democracy
and freedom of information. It is “an open, interoperable, secure, reliable,market-drive, domain that reflects democratic values and protects privacy.”25
Russia and China, meanwhile, are authoritarian regimes that use theInternet to limit public opposition and control information. They havecreated technological tools to enforce dominance over their peoples, andat the U.N. and international organizations dealing with cyberspace, they
strive to push standards that assist their totalitarian efforts and undermine
Western nations.

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Simultaneously, Russia, China, and lesser adversaries exploit the more
open networks of countries like the U.S. to undermine democracy throughdisinformation and propaganda. They have attempted to influence U.S.
elections; enabled or encouraged actors to exploit cyber vulnerabilities
to commit theft of real or intellectual property; and have challenged
U.S. governmental, military, and critical infrastructure networks withtargeted malware.
In short, the cyberspace era has gradually evolved from one of exploration,
innovation, and cooperation to one that retains these features but is also
marked by aggressive competition and persistent threats. To meet thisreality, the State Department must move beyond its traditional model ofattempting to establish non-binding, informal world standards of acceptablecyberspace behavior. The State Department should work with allies toestablish a clear framework of enforceable norms for actions in cyberspace,moving beyond the voluntary norms of the United Nations Group ofGovernmental Experts.26
The State Department should also assist the Department of Defense to go“on offence” against adversaries. “Deterrence as a strategic approach has notstemmed the onslaught of cyber aggression below the level of armed conflict.”27
The traditional U.S. defensive approach based on deterrence followed byreaction to crossed “red lines” is no longer effective. Adversaries can evade
this strategy through multiple tactical lines of action below the level ofarmed conflict, and such actions have a cumulative strategic effect. The State
Department’s role should be to work with allies and engage with adversaries
when necessary to draw clear lines of unacceptable conduct. Global financial
infrastructure, nuclear controls, and public health are particularly important
areas in which consensus may even be found across ideological lines.
These mission-essential institutional initiatives should be joined with others
to establish a presidentially directed and durable U.S. foreign policy.
CONCLUSION

The next conservative President has the opportunity and the duty to restructure
the creation and execution of U.S. foreign policy so that it is focused on his or her
vision for the nation's role in the world. The policy ideas and reform recommendations outlined in this chapter provide guidance about how the State Department
can contribute to this objective.
In the main, this chapter refocuses attention away from the special interestsand social experiments that are used in some quarters to capture U.S. foreign policy.

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The ideas and recommendations herein are premised on the belief that a rigorous
adherence to the national interest is the most enduring foundation for U.S. grandstrategy in the 21st century.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Thanks to the entire State Department chapter team, the leaders and staff of the 2025

Presidential Transition Project, and my colleagues at The Heritage Foundation’s Davis Center. In particular, I would
like to acknowledge the following colleagues: Russell Berman, Sarah Calvis, James Carafano, Spencer Chretien,
Wesley Coopersmith, Paul Dans, Steven Groves, Simon Hankinson, Joseph Humire, Michael Pillsbury, Max Primorac,
Reed Rubenstein, Brett Schaefer, Jeff Smith, Hillary Tanoff, Erin Walsh, and John Zadrozny.

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ENDNOTES

1.
2.

3.
4.

5.

6.
7.

8.
9.
10.

11.

12.

13.
14.

15.
16.
17.

18.

19.

20.

U.S. Department of State, “About the U.S. Department of State: Our History,” https://www.state.gov/about/(accessed March 9, 2023).
The balance of employment is 2,149 eligible family members and 50,223 locally employed staff. U.S.
Department of State, “GTM Fact Sheet: Facts About Our Most Valuable Asset—Our People,” Global TalentManagement, December 31, 2022, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GTM_Factsheet1222.
pdf (accessed March 9, 2023).
U.S. Commission on National Security, Road Map for National Security: Imperative for Change, Phase III Report,
February 15, 2001, p. x, http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/nssg/PhaseIIIFR.pdf (accessed March 9, 2023).
See Brett D. Schaefer, “How to Make the State Department More Effective at Implementing U.S. Foreign
Policy,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 3115, April 20, 2016, https://www.heritage.org/politicalprocess/report/how-make-the-state-department-more-effective-implementing-us-foreign.
Historically, roughly one-third of ambassadorial appointments have been political appointments, although
Republican Administrations have generally had a higher ratio of political appointments than Democratic
Administrations.
U.S. Constitution, art. 2, sec. 2, cl. 2.
News release, “Secretary Blinken Launches the Office of China Coordination,” U.S. Department of State,
December 16, 2022, https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinken-launches-the-office-of-china-coordination/(accessed March 9, 2023).
Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S. Code § 1101 et seq., § 1253.
See Michael Pillsbury, The Hundred Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace the United States as a
Global Superpower (NY: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2016).
For additional context regarding how countering China fits in a more robust U.S. strategy, see James Jay
Carafano et al., “Foreign Policy: Strategy for a Post-Biden Era,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 3715,
July 21, 2022, https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/foreign-policy-strategy-post-biden-era.
The Article X for China would follow George Kennan’s Article X for U.S.–Soviet competition. See George F.
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