The #threat by #JDVance to walk away from peace talks were similar to comments last wk from Secy of #State #MarcoRubio & from #Trump, who said…if the 2 sides don’t agree quickly to a deal, “we’re just going to say, ‘You’re foolish, you’re fools, you’re horrible people, & we’re going to just take a pass.’”
Wed, Vance said under the US proposal, “We’re going to freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today.” [not his call]
#Rubio accused the bureau for population, #refugees & #migration of sending millions of taxpayer dollars to nongovernment groups that had promoted mass migration, including “the invasion on our southern border.” The language echoed #Trump’s, & Rubio did not provide evidence for any of his assertions.
On a new #State Department account on Substack on Tuesday, #MarcoRubio wrote that the bureau for #democracy, #HumanRights & #labor had become a “platform for left-wing activists to wage vendettas” against conservative leaders — including those in Poland, Hungary & Brazil — & to try to promote an arms embargo against Israel.
The New York Times reported on Sunday on a draft document labeled an “executive order” that outlined plans for a drastic restructuring of the #State department, including cutting the entire office of the under secretary for #civilian #security, #democracy & #HumanRights & many other parts of the agency.
#Trump #NationalSecurity #law #ConspiracyTheories #USpol #TrumpPurge #TrumpCoup
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/us/politics/trump-state-department-overhaul.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=A2810FE2-C5BE-44FF-BD1A-DF09F1C597DE
Some elements of that office, including a bureau for #democracy & #HumanRights & one for #refugees, would be cut & *folded into* an office for foreign assistance & #humanitarian aid [the same one they folded #USAID into] acc/to the reorganization chart posted on the #State Department website.
In the announcement, #MarcoRubio did not give more information on the ideology or ideas to which he objected, but the chart & a Substack post revealed some of his thinking. The most drastic change is the elimination of the office of the under secretary for #civilian #security, #democracy & #HumanRights, which is charged with advancing American values around the world.
#MarcoRubio released the plan in the form of an organizational chart and a brief official #statement, w/few other details. The move is the latest by #Trump’s admin to downsize & reshape the government to a degree unseen in generations, which critics have called a shortsightedly blunt assault on the federal bureaucracy.
Secy of State #MarcoRubio outlined plans to drastically reorganize the #State dept, saying it was “beholden to radical political ideology.” The overhaul at the nation’s diplomatic agency will include the elimination of the office of the under secretary for #civilian #security, #democracy & #HumanRights.
#State #NationalSecurity #law #ConspiracyTheories
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/us/politics/state-department-cuts-rubio.html?smid=url-share
REMINDER: CALL FOR PAPERS
Politics, the State, and American Capitalism in the Civil War Era
Special Issue of the _Journal of the Civil War Era_
The American Civil War Era was transformative for American capitalism. The destruction of slavery proved the occasion for an unprecedented mobilization of economic resources, dramatic changes in the nature and scale of federal taxation, financial experiments that included a wholesale revamping of the banking and monetary systems, struggles over corporate privileges and labor protections, a slew of expressly developmental policies ranging from railroad subsidies to agricultural research and education, and still more. That all this occurred in a time of governmental crisis, breakdown, and reconstruction underscores the connections between the economy and the state.
This special issue seeks original papers that explore the Civil War Era as a defining period in American economic development. We seek to publish original scholarship that will reenergize an ongoing conversation among historians about political economy, capitalism, and governance. Our goal is not only to uncover American state capacity – which has by now been revealed beyond any doubt – but to explore government’s concrete role in shaping the country’s economic trajectory during this formative period. We are particularly interested in studies that examine specific government actions and policies, on the federal, state, and municipal levels, that shaped important economic outcomes by reconfiguring markets in various ways. Contributions may address any aspect of economic statecraft, including finance, monetary management, legal doctrine, infrastructural projects, tariffs and trade policies, mobilization of labor, and acquisition and use of land. They may also look into political alignments, divisions, mobilizations, and conflicts around any of these issues. The proposals need not be limited to the war itself or its consequences. We finally seek to prioritize historical work that positions the US in a comparative light and engages themes and questions from disciplines across the social sciences and humanities.
Deadline for proposals: April 25, 2025.
#histodons @histodons #civilwar #civilwarera #jcwe #cfp #ushistory #capitalism #state
Separation of church and state means an absence of both among both.
#Church #State #ChurchAndState #ChecksAndBalances
The draft order also calls for narrowing #Fulbright scholarships so that they are given only to students doing master’s-level studies in #NationalSecurity matters.
And it says #State will end its contract w/ #HowardUniversity, a historically #Black institution [#HBCU], to recruit candidates for the #Rangel & #Pickering fellowships, which are to be terminated. Those fellowships help students from underrepresented groups get a chance at entering the Foreign Service soon after graduation.
The Bureau for #Humanitarian Assistance would absorb the remnants of the #USAID, which has been gutted over the last two months by #MarcoRubio & other members of the #Trump admin.
As for personnel, the memo said, the department needs to move from its “current outdated & disorganized generalist global rotation model to a smarter, strategic, regionally specialized career service framework to maximize expertise.”
The department would eliminate a bureau overseeing #democracy & #HumanRights issues; one that handles #refugees & #migration; & another that works with international organizations. The under secretary position overseeing the first two bureaus would be cut. So would the office of the under secretary of public #diplomacy & public affairs.
The department would also get rid of the position of the special envoy for #climate.
One of the most drastic proposed changes would be eliminating the bureau of African affairs, which oversees policy in sub-Saharan #Africa. It would be replaced by a much smaller special envoy office for African affairs that would report to the White House National Security Council. The office would focus on a handful of issues, including “coordinated counterterrorism operations” & “strategic extraction & #trade of critical #NaturalResources.”
Instead, the draft says, those functions would fall under 4 “corps”: Eurasia Corps, consisting of Europe, Russia & Central Asia; Mid-East Corps, consisting of Arab nations, Iran, Pakistan & Afghanistan; Latin America Corps, consisting of Central America, South America & the Caribbean; & Indo-Pacific Corps, consisting of East Asia, Southeast Asia, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan & the Maldives.
The draft says the department must greatly expand its use of #ArtificialIntelligence to help draft documents, & to undertake “policy development & review” & “operational planning.”
The proposed reorganization would get rid of regional bureaus that help make & enact policy in large parts of the globe.
Major structural changes to #State would be accompanied by #layoffs of both career #diplomats, known as foreign service officers, & #CivilService employees, who usually work in the dept’s HQ in DC…. The dept would begin putting large numbers of workers on paid leave & sending out notices of termination….
The draft #Trump EO calls for ending the foreign service exam for aspiring diplomats, & it lays out new criteria for hiring, including “alignment with the president’s foreign policy vision.”
A draft of a #Trump admin #ExecutiveOrder obtained by NYT proposes a drastic restructuring of the #State Dept, including eliminating almost all of its #Africa operations. The order, which could be signed by Trump this week, also calls for cutting offices at State Dept headquarters that address #ClimateChange & #refugee issues, as well as #democracy & #HumanRights concerns.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/us/politics/trump-state-department-overhaul.html?smid=url-share
