Violence in Iraq has meant the State Department's aid agency is having trouble finding recruits who are willing to travel there. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.
Michele Kelemen has been with NPR for two decades, starting as NPR's Moscow bureau chief and now covering the State Department and Washington's diplomatic corps. Her reports can be heard on all NPR News programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
The Trump administration is recalling dozens of career Ambassadors, saying the president wants diplomats who will advance his agenda. That's what foreign service officers sign up for.
After 14 years as a U.S. diplomat, one officer talks about being laid off in the State Department's sweeping cuts, losing both career and professional identity.