State of the State Department and Diplomacy

Ms. Susan Zelle, Former Foreign Service Officer, February 16 2019

During the Trump administration, the usual ways of conducting diplomacy have been upended.
Many positions in the State Department have never been filled, and meetings with foreign leaders
such as Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin have been undertaken with little advance planning.

What effect are these changes having now, and how will they affect ongoing relationships between the
United States and its allies and adversaries?