Why I Joined the Ben Franklin Fellowship

A DC-based nonprofit called the Ben Franklin Fellowship (BFF) is described as bringing together active State Department officials, academics, and legislators to push reforms. Critics say its involvement has alarmed veteran diplomats and congressional Democrats, who argue it has created a worrisome degree of influence. A retired diplomat compares BFF’s function to a Communist Party cell in Soviet government ministries, and some people reportedly seek to out and dox members who want anonymity. BFF says it is nonpartisan and does not support any political party, but its aims and published think pieces are said to align with efforts to dismantle policies that weakened diplomacy. Supporters argue the State Department has resisted change for decades and that BFF is a public way to support reform despite risks.

"The New York Times claims "a private conservative group's involvement at the State Department has alarmed veteran diplomats and congressional Democrats who say it has established a worrisome degree of influence." Eric Rubin, a retired diplomat of more than 40 years who recently led the mainstream State Department American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), wrote it "functions as the equivalent of a Communist Party cell in Soviet government ministries." Some are even trying to out and doxx members who wish to remain anonymous. It's the controversial Ben Franklin Fellowship ( BFF)."

"The fellowship is a DC-based nonprofit founded by former American diplomats, bringing together active officials (including Christopher Landau, Deputy Secretary of State), academics, and legislators to force reform at the U.S. State Department. The group says it is nonpartisan in not supporting any political party, but its aims and think pieces support Secretary of State Marco Rubio in dismantling policies that have undermined diplomacy and left the Department less influential than it should be in major national security decisions. State has failed to reform itself, so something like BFF is badly needed."

"I have long believed (well before my whistleblower book about Iraq and subsequent forced retirement from State) that the 18th-century institution was structurally resistant to change. The Trump administration changes have been sharp and quick, but I wonder if any less draconian process would have produced any results at all-over my own 24-year-career at State, I watched blue ribbon panels come and go alongside outside studies and white papers, all full of ideas that were ignored. To me, BFF is a public way of supporting change, even when it hurts and even when it sometimes hurts good people. It is a lot of weight to throw on to BFF. But you have to start somewhere."

Read at The American Conservative