A draft of a Trump administration executive order proposes a drastic restructuring of the State Department, including eliminating almost all of its Africa operations and shutting down embassies and consulates across the continent. The draft also calls for cutting offices at State Department headquarters that address climate change and refugee issues, as well as democracy and human rights concerns. The purpose of the executive order, which could be signed soon by President Trump, is to impose “a disciplined reorganization” of the State Department and “streamline mission delivery” while cutting “waste, fraud and abuse,” according to a copy of the 16-page draft order obtained by The New York Times. The department is supposed to make the changes by Oct. 1. Some of the proposed changes outlined in the draft document would require congressional notification and no doubt be challenged by law enforcement, according to an internal State Department review. The memo also says that the Trump administration is considering making a number of changes to foreign aid in Africa, including reducing the amount of aid flowing. "The President believes it is in the nation's interest to strengthen international support to countries in Africa and Asia in order to ensure the stability of their governments, support for their development and the security of their citizens," the memo says. "In addition, the President believes that increased support for Africa is needed to counter and counter the growing threat posed by terrorist groups and extremist ideologies in these areas." The memo makers, including mass closures of diplomatic missions and headquarters bureaus, as well as an overhaul of the diplomatic corps. Substantial parts of it, if officials tried to enact them, would likely face lawsuits. At the same time, the diplomatic corps has long been criticized for its perceived role in the American establishment's pursuit of an alternative foreign policy. In the 1950s, for example, many diplomats believed the U.S. was fighting a war on two fronts: one against the Soviet Union and the other against China. And in the late 1990s, many critics argued that the embassy's work in Washington, D.C., had helped shape American foreign policy, from the 1992 invasion of Serbia to the Iraq war. The Obama administration is trying to correct that perception. It has announced a $50 million, five-year plan to modernize the diplomatic corps. And, like the Clinton administration, it is promising to modernize the U.S. military and other federal agencies that operate overseas. Yet the effort is being closely watched, and some analysts suggest that it may not succeed. "It will be a challenge, because the bureaucracy is so bloated," said David Malpass, a defense policy expert who has written extensively on American foreign policy. An analysis by the Center for the Study of International and Strategic Affairs concluded that the military spending would not be enough to prevent a surge of Russian aggression in Ukraine, Syria, or elsewhere.
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