Recent headlines from major U.S. media outlets point to a crisis of morale within the country’s diplomatic corps:
“U.S. Diplomats Are Hating Their Jobs Under Trump” — The Daily Beast
“U.S. Diplomats Report Broken Morale and Abandoned Careers” — The New York Times
“Morale in the U.S. Foreign Service Craters Under Trump” — Axios
“Foreign Service in Crisis as 1 in 4 Officers Pushed Out” — Devex
All these eyebrow-raising headlines stem from a single report issued by the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), which warns that the United States’ diplomatic capacity is being “decimated from within.”
AFSA, the union and professional association of the Foreign Service, recently surveyed more than 2,100 of its active-duty members worldwide. The results are “sobering,” according to a press release. A staggering 98 percent reported poor morale, nearly one-third have changed their career plans since January 2025, and 86 percent said recent workplace changes have hurt their ability to advance U.S. diplomatic priorities.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.