First-hand Account of the Importance of Diplomacy

This episode provoked both admiration and frustration in me. John "Dink" Dinkelman, after serving 37 years in diplomacy , was laid off in a mass firing of 1300 civil service employees and diplomats of the American Foreign Service Association in 2025, and from this podcast, I see that he is an admirable man. The frustration I feel comes from the administration's withdrawing peace-keeping people while waging wars that may mean the kids at Aunt Deb's Thanksgiving table may be killed or injured--or kill or injure -- in war. The firing was called an RIF: Reduction in Force. It's frustrating that military force is the only area in which there's never a reduction unless we count a reduction in lives. But I feel hope as long as people like "Dink" Dinkelman exist and persist and people like him and Chris Wurst tell their stories.