US State Department faces financial difficulties

By Alimat Aliyeva

The U.S. Department of State faces a number of challenges in terms of resources and personnel, Azernews reports, citing the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of the United States.

CSIS and the American Academy of Diplomacy invited Richard Wehrman to discuss the role of diplomacy as the foundation of U.S. national security. He noted that about 77 thousand diplomats currently work in about 300 embassies, consulates and internal offices of the U.S. Department of State.

"It is very important for American diplomats and development experts to establish and deepen cooperation in an era of increased competition and increased global interaction. But the $56.7 billion budget for fiscal year 2024 is 6 percent less than the budget for fiscal year 2023. The budget for fiscal year 2025 was announced in March with a request of $58.8 billion. The bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last fall, which cut the State Department's budget by more than 15 percent, further complicated the situation," R. Verma stressed.

The representative of the department said that the US State Department needs additional budgetary funds to respond to challenges in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region. According to him, over the past 20 years, the Pentagon's budget has increased 10 times more than the budget of the State Department. Also, the activities of the US Foreign Ministry are limited by Congress.

R. Verma pointed out that in addition to the insufficient financial resources allocated to the State Department, there is an average staff shortage of 13 percent. About 15 percent of candidates have been waiting at the doors of the State Department for years, and there are also difficulties with sending ambassadors to foreign countries. For this reason, the full formation of the staff of diplomatic missions of a number of countries is delayed.