About the Project
The American Diplomacy Project – Phase II, in collaboration with the Una Chapman Cox Foundation and ASU, will build on the original report published in 2020 by Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs entitled The American Diplomacy Project: A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century.
Arizona State University, through its Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab, will now provide the new institutional home for assembling a detailed blueprint – a “workbook” – for carrying forward the original report’s plan for the revitalization and modernization of the United States Foreign Service. The work of the project will be directed by a team of former Ambassadors and will draw on extensive discussion with experts and current and former members of the Foreign Service.
ASU-supported project presents blueprints for changes to US foreign service
"The American Diplomacy Project–Phase II proposes concrete change, offering a plan of action for a new generation of American diplomats to meet the demands of American foreign policy today...Read More from ASU News
ASU-SPONSORED AMERICAN DIPLOMACY PROJECT ADVANCES
ASU Ambassador-in-Residence and LDNS Lab Co-Founder Ambassador Michael Polt attended a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma on March 20 to discuss the State Department plans to pilot one of the ASU-Sponsored American Diplomacy Project’s (ADP) “Blueprints for a More Modern Diplomatic Service.” Together with other leaders of the project, Ambassador Polt received a briefing on the envisioned Diplomatic Reserve Corps, designed to bring much needed emergency surge capacity to our nation’s diplomatic efforts.
The ADP team applauded this initial step by the Department of State in seeking to implement this much needed facility and provided feedback on the draft plan to be implement in FY 2025. ASU and Leadership, Diplomacy, and National Security (LDNS) Lab sponsorship of the project featured prominently in the State Department meeting. Ambassador Polt will visit Pennsylvania’s Millersville University in early April to present the full set of ASU Blueprints at a meeting of the Harrisburg World Affairs Council.
Article
State of the State Department: Hiring above attrition, training a new generation of diplomats
The State Department is bringing in a record volume of new hires. The Foreign Service is recruiting new diplomats at a rate not seen in more than a decade.
But even at these robust hiring rates, which the department expects to rein in due to recent budget cuts, top leaders say it’ll take years to get to a healthy level of staffing.
Four Blueprints to Modernize Diplomacy
1. Mission and Mandate
Led by Ambassador Michael C. Polt, ASU Ambassador-in-Residence and former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro and Estonia.
2. Professional Education and Training Priorities
Led by Ambassador Dan Smith, former Director of the Foreign Service Institute, and Ambassador Joyce Barr, former Assistant Secretary of State for Administration.
3. A Modern and Flexible Personnel System
Led by Ambassador Jo Ellen Powell, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Resources.
4. Establishment of a Diplomatic Reserve Corps
Led by Ambassador Patrick Kennedy, former Under Secretary of State for Management.
Event Recordings
Presentation of the Blueprints | Sept. 8, 2022
The Phase II project team, in collaboration with the Una Chapman Cox Foundation and ASU, has assembled detailed blueprints for four critical areas of State Department reform. At this event, team leaders presented their work and took audience questions.
Midterm Report | May 31, 2022
Following its launch in January this year, this is the second Roundtable dedicated to ASU’s engagement in support of the modernization of U.S. diplomacy. The Phase II project team, in collaboration with the Una Chapman Cox Foundation and ASU, is assembling detailed blueprints for four critical areas of Foreign Service reform. At this event at the midpoint of the effort, team leaders provided a brief progress update and answered audience questions.
Inaugural ASU Washington Diplomatic Roundtable | January 31, 2022
This inaugural Roundtable launched ASU’s engagement in support of modernization of U.S. diplomacy. Hosted by ASU’s Ambassador-in-Residence Michael C. Polt, this Roundtable featured the new Project Co-Chairs Ambassador Marc Grossman and Ambassador Marcie Ries, as well as comments by the Project’s leadership team.
Event Photos
Collaborators
Una Chapman Cox Foundation
The American Academy of Diplomacy
Project Team
Directors
Co-chair
Ambassador Marc Grossman served as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the State Department's third ranking official, until his retirement in 2005 after 29 years in the US Foreign Service. As Under Secretary, he helped marshal diplomatic support for the international response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. He also managed US policies in the Balkans and Colombia and…
Co-chair
Marcie B. Ries is a retired Ambassador with more than thirty-five years of diplomatic experience in Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East. She is a three-time Chief of Mission, serving as Head of the U.S. Mission in Kosovo (2003-2004), United States Ambassador to Albania (2004-2007) and, most recently (2012-2015), as United States Ambassador to Bulgaria.
Charles Ray retired from the US Foreign Service in 2012 after a 30-year career. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he spent 20 years in the US Army, retiring with the rank of Major. During his army career, he did two tours in Vietnam, served in Military Intelligence, Special Operations and Public Affairs, with assignments in Germany, Korea, Vietnam, and Panama, as well as several posts in…
Charles Armstrong retired from the Office of the Legislative Counsel of the United States Senate in 2021 after 31 years of service as a drafter of legislation for committees and members of the Senate. In his last 10 years of service, he held the position of Senior Counsel and acted as the head of the Foreign Affairs team in the Office, leading and supervising attorneys responsible for drafting…
Joyce Barr is a Professor of Practice in Government and International Affairs with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University as well as a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow. A former Ambassador and Assistant Secretary with more than 37 years of service, she attained the personal rank of Career Minister before retiring from the Department of State in January 2017.…
Patrick F. Kennedy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Under Secretary for Management on November 6, 2007 and served in that position until January 27, 2017. Prior to assuming that position, he was Director of the State Department’s Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation from May, 2007; Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Management from April, 2005 to May…
A career Foreign Service Officer, Jo Ellen Powell served as Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Resources, and as Consul General in Frankfurt, Germany.
ASU Ambassador-in-Residence and Professor of Practice
Co-founder, Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab
Ambassador Michael C. Polt is ASU's Ambassador-in-Residence and Co-Founder of the ASU Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab. He lends his lifetime career experience as a U.S. diplomat to the students, faculty, and life-time learner community of Arizona State University. With his office in ASU’s Barrett and O’Connor Center in Washington, D.C., the Ambassador focuses on foreign policy…
Daniel B. Smith, recently retired from the Foreign Service with the highest rank of Career Ambassador, served as the State Department’s Transition Director for the 2020 Presidential Transition and subsequently as Acting Secretary and Acting Deputy Secretary of State in the early months of the Biden Administration. He served prior to that as Director of the Foreign Service Institute, the…
Research Aides
Fall 2021
Aman Barekzai was born and raised in Arizona. He has recently graduated, majoring in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations, while also minoring in History and Communication. He is currently a Master's candidate for the 4+1 Accelerated M.A. Program in Political Science. As an Afghan-American and first-generation college student, Aman aspires to leave behind a positive…
Nicholas Davies is a Marine Corps Veteran who specialized in Department of State Embassy Security working in Germany, Iraq, and Belize. He is a sophomore currently studying Business Global Politics at W.P. Carey School of Business. He has co-founded a program with the Pat Tillman Veterans Center to improve and help other student veterans in their experience at ASU. He is a motivated and active…
Joey is a first-year graduate student in the International Affairs and Leadership master’s program at ASU. He earned dual bachelor’s in Sociology and Film Studies and a minor in Business Administration at California State University Fullerton. He has held administrative positions in diverse settings including human resources, healthcare data management, and media production. Joey considers…
Simon A. Lee (SAL) is currently working on his M.A. in International Affairs & Leadership at the School of Politics and Global Studies with the new Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab, and what makes his third degree at Arizona State University. SAL holds a B.A. in Political Science with Certificates in International Security, Socio-Legal Theory, and Human Rights, along with a…
Nicole is a fourth-year Political Science student with minors in Spanish, Russian, and Statistics. She has worked in a variety of research settings, most recently in ASU’s School of Transborder studies where she co-authored a paper for the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. After graduation in Spring 2023, Nicole hopes to attend law school. In her free…
Molly Sexton is a sophomore from Kansas City, Missouri majoring in Politics and the Economy as well as minoring in Philosophy. She is a motivated student as she is involved in Barrett, the Honors College and the Project Excellence Program. Her academic interests consist of foreign policy, gender related inequalities, global economics, economic justice, and political philosophy. Her academic…
Mia is pursuing her Master's in Global Security from Arizona State University, where she previously graduated in 2019 with a BA in Cultural Geography. Her areas of academic interest are human migration and border conflict, as well as cybersecurity and cyber policy.
While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Mia interned at the U.S. embassy in…
Joe P. Thomas is a Junior at Arizona State University studying History, Political Science, and Arabic. He was born in the United Arab Emirates, and came to Phoenix, Arizona in 2014 and been based there ever since. He has interned at the Arizona State Senate, the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Economic Security. He conducted research with Ambassador Polt for the masterclass…
Jesus Vega is a third year student majoring in Global Studies with a certificate in cross sector leadership and a certificate in sales and marketing. Growing up Mexican-American in a border town, Jesus is interested in learning about new cultures, learning new languages, and learning about the role intercultural communications plays in everyday interactions. He is currently a Policy Design…